Have Mercy
by Patchlamb
Summary: Left to rot in the middle of no where, trapped in the human world. Randall's got a plan, but things back fire when he gets himself captured by a couple of teens. Carried away in a dog cage back to the sisters' house- he must either learn to cope with them, or fight them. But you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
1. ROAR

**_Somewhat disappointed with the fanfics consisting of Randall meeting humans, I decided to make my own to satisfy me. I hope you enjoy. I don't expect this to be too terribly long- but I do expect it to have some meat!_**

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The lizard was up a tree, fidgeting. He had been beaten violently with a shovel- nearly into unconsciousness- and then when he finally escaped he almost had his skink like tail chomped off by an alligator! He didn't see any resemblance between the horrid beast and himself. How could those humans have mistook him- a giant purple lizard standing upright by four legs- for one of those toothy things?

Randall was about 12 feet long, considering his tail and three fronds (which lay between his large eyes on his head). He was covered in scales, as is natural for a reptile, and was a colorful purple with blue streaking down his back and tail. The blue pattern gave small stripes and splotches as it trailed down his body.

The most interesting feature, however, had to be his eight legs, at the ends which consisted of three fingered hands. Each finger was rounded, and allowed him to easily crawl on whatever surface he wished. He was most certainly a monster. And he was not meant to be here. Not in this world.

There came a snarl from far below the tree, whose roots sprawled out and into the mush of the swamp. "Ahhh, shut up down there! You're not scaring anybody with that little 'growl.'" Randall yelled down at the alligator peeking its head out of the water. "You wanna hear a real growl?" He grinned to himself, craning his neck to lift his head, and puffed up his chest. He took in a breath and let loose the loudest roar he could muster.

Though his roars weren't the best- this one came out scratchy and menacing. It was what comes out of a person (or monster) when they're at the edge. And Randall was certainly on edge. The sound bounced off of the trees and gave a small echo, though barely noticeable.

The alligator did not respond, and Randall bared his teeth, glaring down into the darkness.

* * *

There was a knock at her door.

"What?" called the teen from her bed, looking up from a notebook she had been scribbling in.

"C-can I come in?" called a gentle voice from the other side. "I thought I heard somethin'."

She signed and rolled her eyes in good nature. "Alright," She replied. "come in."

The door was hastily and carefully opened up by a young girl- no older than 12- and closed again behind her. She trotted anxiously into the spacious room and got in bed next to her older sister. "I did, I heard somethin', outside." The young girl said quickly.

"Anne, you're _always_ hearing things. Just like when you were little. You used to think monsters lived in your closest and wanted to eat you!" replied the older sister, laying the notebook in her lap. She was in pink pajamas with the pattern of a leopard printed on them in blue.

Anne made a face. "I was a little kid. But I really did hear something this time, I swear to God, and it wasn't no Bigfoot this time neither!" She gave a nod as if to affirm the situation to herself. "'Sides, Daddy says you used to believe in monsters too, Mercy!" The girl stuck out her tongue and giggled, ruffling her pale blue gown.

Mercy screwed up her face and stuck her tongue right back out at her little sister playfully, making a funny noise. "Shut up, you!"

The two girls had a good relationship. Mostly thanks to Mercy's high tolerance level. Without it, she wouldn't be able to handle her imaginative bouncy sister. They lived out in the country in Louisiana, alone with their father in a little pale white house. It wasn't but a short walk from there to the marshland. This was no problem for the sisters, as they enjoyed a good romp out in the wilderness.

Mercy, at the age of 18 (going on 19, within the next month) often had to look after her 12 year old sister. Especially in the summer, when their father went off to work. Mercy had dark brown hair, while Anne had inky black hair. And while Mercy preferred to keep her hair long and flowing, Anne had hers cut short above the shoulders.

"It sounded kinda lonesome. I think. And kinda mad. Liiiikkee. . ." The girl looked off into space. "Like some critter who was tryin' to escape them gators out in the swamp!" Anne grinned in triumph at her claim.

"Well tell me, miss Monster Hunter, how come I didn't hear nothin'?" Mercy wiggled and sat up against the back of her bed, thinking herself clever.

This seemed to stump Anne for a moment. Then, she smiled. "'Cause you was too busy doodlin' and writing poems in this book'a yours!" Anne grabbed the note book that had since been forgotten, waving it around in front of Mercy. "I bet you done gone and got a crush back at school. Writing about your star-crossed lover, since he's probably a freshman!" Then the girl started to laugh, getting the note book snatched away.

"Haha, very funny." Mused Mercy, setting the book down on the table beside her bed. "You ought to be gettin' to sleep, girly!"

"But, it's only 11 a-clock!" Whined the girl, pouting. "And it's the middle'a summer break! Ain't got no school, why should I keep having to go off to bed so early?"

Mercy shook her head. "'Cause, knowing you, you're going to be wanting me to go off looking for whatever made the 'noise' you heard. Like you always do. So we best both be getting to sleep."

Anne tilted her head in what looked like a painful position, short hair flopping. "Well, ain't you the smart one!" Anne knew, of course, she _was_ planning to drag her sister out to the swamp first thing come morning. The pair had probably been on dozens of 'monster hunts' since Anne had been in the second grade.

"Yup, that's me! I'm the wiz-kid 'round here." Mercy replied. "Now get!"

Anne turned her head upright and resumed her pouting from earlier. "Can't I sleep with yall tonight?"

Mercy sighed pathetically. If she didn't accept, Anne would keep her up trying to convince her to let her stay. "Fine. But you have to go to sleep."

"Okay!" she chimed, bouncing lively.

"Stop that. Shhh. Lay down." Mercy leaned over and turned off her lamp with a 'click click.' Then the two snuggled into the beds soft covering, and fell into a deep slumber.

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_**Already done with the second chapter, but I will complete the third one before posting anything else. Thank you for reading.**_

_**(I'm not so sure how far any "romance" in this will go. But I thought it would be proper enough to label it as such, since I do intend to have something romantic in it! ;])**_


	2. Monster Hunt

_**"Guest," who I assume is a single person (or group of the persons friends) upset about the authors comments at the beginning of the first chapter- I do not mind your reviews, however, I would appreciate it if you would make them a little more lengthy. I am unable to use your feedback to help the fanfiction since you are not giving details or advice. Thanks for reading!**_

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"Now, we ain't gonna be gettin' too close to the bayou, you know it can be dangerous. And I didn't bring a gun." Mercy called, walking casually behind her sister who had bounded ahead.

"I know, gators and snakes and bugs, yadda yadda." Anne flung a hand dismissively. "Come on, slow poke, I know you're not no morning person, but 10AM ain't _that_ early!"

Mercy didn't reply. She stepped up her speed a little, just enough to get her beside her little sister. She smiled and took a deep breath. It was nice getting out in the woods on days like this. Hardly a cloud in the sky; everything was crisp and fresh. Dew was still clinging onto blades of grass, slipping and squishing quietly beneath Mercy's pink boots. They matched Anne's, naturally.

"I'm tellin' ya, Mercy. Wasn't no Bigfoot. Sounded like a dinosaur to me. Maybe a little one, otherwise it'd have been louder." Anne leveled her hand to represent how big she thought the 'dinosaur' would be.

Mercy was always amused at how serious Anne was about her cryptids and story telling. "You _sure_ it wasn't Bigfoot?" She teased, flopping Anne's bangs back to mess up her hair. Anne shook her head and fixed her bangs with a 'hmph.'

"Nah, it's gotta be a dino."

"You know the dinosaurs died out a long time ago." Mercy stated. "Whole asteroid thing and all. I read that birds were- oof! Anne, what'd you stop for?" Mercy had almost run over the girl, who had abruptly stopped moving forward. She was staring upwards, mouth gaped.

"M-Mercy, look!" She pointed a boney hand up at a tree that was near the waters edge. "I told you! I _told_ you it was a little dinosaur!"

"What'er you goin' on about?" Mercy squinted and looked off where the finger lead- straight up to- "Oh my God." They had never actually come across anything before on these monster hunts. But there, right before Mercy's own eyes, was a lizard. A giant purple lizard, obviously asleep, high up in one of the trees. It's tail was wrapped cautiously around the branch is was draped over.

"We gotta capture it!" Anne whispered, scared it may wake to her voice despite it being far up in a tree a few feet off.

Mercy took to whispering along with Anne."No way! We don't know what that thing even is! It could be a escaped mutant. . . thing. From like, a government facility! Or an alien. Or. . . something!" She was starting to sound like her sister, now.

"I told ya, it's gotta be a dinosaur!"

"Don't look like no dinosaur I ever seen. Besides, how would we even catch it? It would just run off! Or try'n bite us!"

"We gotta dog cage at home, remember? We could go back and get it, and maybe trick it. Could set some food out inside the cage, like when you capture a bunny with a box, stick, and a carrot!" Anne was looking at Mercy with pleading, desperate eyes.

The older sister sighed and softened. "I guess my name's not Mercy for nothin'." She said in defeat.

* * *

It wasn't the most peaceful of sleep. Being stuck up in a tree for fear you'll lose your tail in the dark isn't the best feeling, and not good to sleep on. Not at all. Some how, Randall managed. He planned to find some way back to his world when day came.

_Tap. Tap tap._

"Mmm." His large, squinty eyes opened, painfully adjusting to the morning sun. Something was making a noise. The sound of rocks being thrown. Yes, that was it. Randall glanced down at the marsh water. The alligator was no longer there.

The pitter-patter of the rocks had stopped the moment he stirred, but he paid no mind. His head lifted and he stretched his arms, but dare not unwind his tail from the branch just yet. "With that animal gone, I can climb down. But God, where am I?" He looked off in the distance, but tall trees blocked his view. He really was in the muddle of nowhere, and wasn't keen on climbing higher either. "I'll just go the way I came." He mumbled to himself after a yawn, finally untwisting his tail and slithering down the thick trunk. "Back track to that trailer. There's gotta be more people nearby. More houses means kids. More kids, more closets." He grinned.

The grass and leaves where cool on his smooth feet. He glanced around, trying to recall which way he went. Then, out the corner of his eye, he spotted something metallic. Off half-hidden beside a bush was a cage. It looked cramped. The door had been swung wide open, and inside sat a big chunk of raw meat. Randall shook his head at it.

"A trap for one of those big nosed beasts?" He questioned out loud suspiciously, eying the woods around him. He was being watched. Randall could feel it on his back. The monster slipped into invisibility and began to lurk around.

"Where'd he go?" Whispered the voice of Anne, hidden some distance off.

"Just disappeared!" Replied Mercy beside her.

The two were crouched low in the brush. They had been setting for a good twenty minutes before Anne had the idea to throw rocks at the 'dinosaur.' Which had worked to waken it, brightening their spirits. If it hadn't, Mercy was sure they would have been viciously torn to pieces by one pissed off lizard. She was happy she brought her fathers gun with her when they made their second trip down to the marsh with the cage. It was a shotgun, and while she had used it a few good times, she wasn't very good at aiming.

Anne made a disappointed noise. "What do we do now?"

Mercy shrugged, peeking out from behind the thick bush they were using for cover. "It's probably gone." She admitted sadly.

Anne slumped down onto her bottom in the dirt. "We were so close. Couldn't of been no illusion. Right?" She sighed.

Then, Mercy shrieked. She grabbed the shot gun and rose her arms in the air, up on her feet and moving towards a surprised and highly startled Anne. "Mercy?" She yelled, horrified, looking behind her.

"Ack!" Randall- or the dinosaur- began to get clobbered on the head by the end of Mercy's shotgun. Deja vu. Adrenalin was bursting through her body and she struck again and again- until- _'plop.' _There had been no struggle. Stupid beast.

"Son of'a bitch was gonna bite your head off!" Mercy yelled, trembling from the Adrenalin. She was still standing over Anne, panting and glaring down at the creature who was knocked out cold in the dirt.

Anne, who looked just as petrified as Mercy at that moment, was staring down at the lizard in astonishment. She looked up at her sister and gave a small hysterical laugh. "Oh man, you saved my tail!"

Finally, Mercy lowered her arms and backed up. She couldn't take her eyes off of the beast. For what looked like a blood thirsty killer moments ago, was now a harmless lump of purple and blue scales. "C-come on. We gotta shove this thing up in the cage'n take'em home. We can't let this thing stay out here. It'll be snatchin' up children and scaring the locals."

So the two hefted the lizard up by both ends and carried him off to the cage. They dumped him in and closed the door. Mercy latched the dog door and placed a lock onto it, of which she had the key.

It took some time but between the two, they were able to carry the heavy cage back home.

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_**I would love to hear feedback on how the story is moving so far. Likeness of the characters, believability of the plot and setting. . .**_

_**(Guest [you know who I am referring to] if you take up the offer, please remember to give me reasons. "I think the characters are dumb" for example, does not give me enough info to try and fix problems with the characters. Thank you.)**_


	3. Trapped

That was the second time Randall had been beaten to near unconsciousness. Only, this time, he _was_ beaten to unconsciousness. The surface he was curled up on was cold and smooth. It felt like plastic. The thought swam hazily through his mind before he finally came to.

His head throbbed as his eyes opened for the second time today, and- "Eyuck!" He flailed back against the bars of the cage, throwing himself away from the raw meat that his head had been resting beside. Disgusting! He had been laying next to that? He was going to get a disease or something.

His tail curled around the thin bars of the cage and the tips of his fronds scrapped the top. Ringing his four hands nervously, he realized in horror he was no longer in the swamp. Of course he wasn't. He had been beaten senseless by a screeching human, using the back of her gun as a melee weapon. "This isn't good." He whispered, looking hopeless for a moment.

"Mercy, it's awake!" Called a voice. Randall took notice that the cage was situated outside, the back against the stained white walls of a house. Around him were a number of rusty tools hanging off of hooks. Shovels, hedge clippers, and even a net made of rotting wood and ratty netting. The cage was just big enough for him, with a little extra room. The floor and roof were both solid and black. "Hurry!" Cried the voice again.

"Hold yer horses, I'm comin'!" Replied a voice, faintly from the inside of the house.

"Hey there lil' guy." Came the first voice calmly. Randall whipped his head towards it; beside the cage crouched a concerned child with short raven hair. Her face went back and forth from worry to awe. As if she couldn't tell which was the stronger emotion.

Randall flattened his fronds and ducked his head, like a cat getting in position to stalk prey. He bared his sharp uneven teeth. "Open this cage before I **rip** it open!" He snarled threateningly at her, taking a snap at the air to show he meant business.

The child stared at him, mouth opening and eyes widening. It then occurred to Randall that she had not expected him to speak. "What, cat got your tongue? I know you can hear me." He looked around, as if suddenly in panic. "Where the hell am I?" His mind went into overload, and he bared his teeth again, eying the amazed girl once more. "I _will_ rip this thing apart!"

"S'awake, huh?" A much taller girl trotted around the corner and watched Randall carefully, going to stand beside the other human. She hadn't heard him, apparently."Sorry took a while. Was changing clothes."

"I-i-it- Mercy, it talked!" She stood up, a hand over her mouth and looking up with those same wide eyes at her sister.

Mercy rolled her dull green eyes, making a face at the lizard. "You think everything talks. You even talk to trees when you think I'm not looking." She glanced at the raw meat in the cage and noted outloud. "You'd think an escaped animal would be hungry if it was roaming around without anyone to feed it."

Randall glared and reared back slightly. He plunged himself forward to skull bash the side of the cage the girls were facing. The cage rocked and the bars shook. Randall was thrusted back, whimpering and clenching his head with his two top hands in pain. His head was covered in dark bruises- he didn't think that through. Indeed, he had been bluffing when he threatened to bust the cage open. "Ow. Ow. Ow." He hissed.

"Huh?" Asked a confused Mercy, face screwing up and brows furrowing.

"See, I told'ya! It talks! A _talking_ dinosaur! It said we better let it out or it'll break the cage!"

"No way- it just. . . made a noise." Her voice was dripping with hopes she was wrong. "See, I done hurt it's head with that gun."

Randall seemed to be going through several emotions all at once. He was pissed off- he was desperate- and he felt alone. "I'm not an escaped animal or a stupid dinosaur!" He said, moving to stick has hands through the bars and fiddle with the lock. "You can't keep me here. Some one will-" His sentence cut off and he pulled his arms back, looking pathetic. "Who am I kidding. Nobody who gets purposely left behind here ever goes back."

"Holy shit!" Mercy cried.

"Uh-huh! I didn't lie!"

Randall crossed his arms and stared down at the putrid meat he had since brushed off to the side away from the center of the little cage. "I bet all the monsters that get caught by humans are skinned alive and fed to their babies." He shuddered.

Mercy put her hands on her head then gestured toward the cage. "A talking mutant dinosaur!"

Randall face palmed, sliding his three fingered hand down his squash face. "For the love of God. I am not a dinosaur!"

Anne jumped up and down, grinning madly. "Oh man this is so cool! What are you? A space alien? Mercy we gotta space alien in our back yard!" She laughed hysterically, showing teeth.

"No!" Randall yelled. "I'm a monster!" He gripped the bars of the cage, watching them. "In the midst of night, I creep silently into slumbering childrens' rooms. I hardly touch the floor as I make my way to their beds- and when the child wakes up, looking around and whining for mommy- I pounce and-" He let out a blood thirsty roar, waited, and said. "Then, they scream." He gave a devilish laugh.

The sisters were quiet, getting a smug look of satisfaction out of Randall.

Suddenly; "I was right, and you were wrong! Monsters _do_ exist!" Anne crossed her arms, looking pleased with herself.

Mercy didn't look so happy. After the first shock had began to ebb out of her, she started to get worried. "Anne, what are we gonna do with him? What about Daddy?"

That shut her up. She stopped smiling and bit at a fingernail. Then she shrugged. "We can't tell no one. They'd wanna experiment on'em! I don't want them to, they'll end up killin' him!"

"I know. He's sentient. It'd be like lettin' them take one'a the kids at school to do weird government experiments on, jus' cause we don't like them."

Randall growled. "Don't you dare compare me to you. I'm _nothing_ like one of you humans! You're all just filthy poisonous scum!"

Anne crossed her arms and looked grumpily at the lizard, crouching back down to eye level a few inches away. She squinted frustratingly at him through the bars. "Hey, and what's so wrong with bein' a human? Least I only got four limbs like the rest'a the animals!" That was somewhat a fib, since not all animals had four limbs.

"Everything! The reason I'm here is because of one of _you_. And the reason I'm in this cage is because of that tall one there tried to kill me!"

"Pfff," Mercy put her weight on one leg. "I only hit you like, seven times."

Randall finally released the bars and rubbed his still sore head. "Yeah, and it freaking hurts."

Suddenly Anne's eyes softened. "I'm sorry." She pouted, and reached a hand through the close fitting bars. Her fingers barely grazed Randall's scales before he lurched his head back and hissed. Anne quickly retracted her hand and looked sad. "Was just tryin'ta make you feel better."

"Well _don't._" Randall replied, and despite the venom in his tone his voice was softer than before. He was stuck here. Stuck with two bratty girls while he was behind bars. What was there for him, now?

There was a awkward silence between the three. Then Mercy finally spoke. "So. You're clever. Got a name?"

The lizard stared at her as if debating giving away his name or not. It couldn't hurt. Wasn't like he was going to go anywhere, by the looks of it. "It's Randall. Randall Boggs."

Mercy nodded and got beside her sister, who was still watching Randall (it was a little creepy, in Randall's opinion). "You hungry?" She asked, giving a reassuring smile. Randall didn't reply.

"Didn't eat the meat." Anne said.

"I know," Mercy replied in a disappointed voice. She rose one corner of her mouth and furrowed her eyebrows. "Listen, I'm sorry about beatin' you up. Alright? You was looking like you were about to hurt my lil' sister!"

Randall shrugged. He didn't like being watched so intensely, especially with them so close. He looked down at the meat and finally spoke up. "I'm not eating that." He said flatly.

"Fine. I'll get you whatever you want." Replied Mercy. "As long as it's not _humans._"

Randall looked back up. "That sounds disgusting. What makes you think I'll eat anything you give me anyways? I'm not some pretty little pet that will eat out the palm of your hand just because you pat me on the head."

"Then," Mercy began, lifting her chin up. "you'll just starve to death."

Randall sneered at her. "You got a smart mouth."

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_**Tell me if you find the accented dialog too bother some. I wanna keep a little bit of it, but tell me if I'm accenting it too much. (it helps that I'm Southern, haha)**_

**_Thanks for reading, I appreciate all reviews._**


	4. Freedom

_**To the Guest who brought up "Y'all"; Yes, I understand y'all means you all (wouldn't do well in the south if I didn't, haha). I've heard some folk use y'all when talking to one person before, especially with thicker accents, so I figured it'd be alright to use. But thanks for mentioning it, anyways. And actually, I'm from West Tennessee! Thanks for the review.**_

* * *

The two weren't sure what they would say to their father. So after Mercy raided the kitchen to offer everything to Randall (for she did not know what he liked) she and Anne sat on the floor of the living room to discuss their situation. The ideas weren't exactly flowing.

"So." Clapped Mercy. "We gotta monster chillin' in a cage behind the house, eating up all our food. And Daddy comes home at five."

"That's innnn," Anne counted off on her fingers. "three and a half hours!"

The older sister nodded, leaning against the couch which was on the furthermost wall of the room. "What do we do?" She asked, mostly to herself. The room was silent.

"Could jus' tell him." Suggested Anne with a shrug, expression unsure.

"He'd wanna call animal control."

"Nuh-uh," Anne objected "not if we showed him he talked!"

Mercy ran her fingers through her hair. "We don't know that, Anne. 'Sides, I know you just wanna brag that you weren't lying about the monsters when you was a kid."

"Hey, you _know_ you wanna brag too!"

There was another awkward silence.

"I wanna keep'em." Stated Anne bluntly.

"Keep'em?"

"Like, we could hide him, and he could be our secret friend who we go on adventures with'n stuff."

Mercy gave a loud hearty laugh. "You read too much, sister."

Undecided on what to do about their dad, Anne brought up letting him out of the cage. But the trouble with that was he had already proven to be violent. If they were unable to release him, then they would end up confessing to their father about the monster one way or another. So, they went out back to see if he had finally eaten and to let him in on their thoughts.

The cage was empty.

"Oh God, oh God!" Mercy began to panic. Maybe Randall really could bust out of the cage! But the lock was still latched firmly and the bars were perfectly uniform. A couple of bones lay scattered about the cage, obviously from the left over fried chicken that had been with the rest of the offered foods. He hadn't touched anything else. "Where the hell'd he go?"

Anne looked just as scared as Mercy. She walked up to the cage unsure, her flip flops smacking the soles of her feet as she went. She stared. "Hey." She tried, nudging the cage with her foot. "_Heeeey._"

"What the heck are ya doin'?" Mercy asked.

Anne looked back at her."I was thinkin', that we done seen him disappear once."

"Clever girl!"

The sisters both started and 'eep'ed, Anne turned her head back to look at the empty cage. Then from thin air, purple and blue scales seemed to fabricate. Randall's big eyes squinted up at her, and a low grumble came from him like a purring cat. "I was going to say 'boo' but you ruined it by figuring it out." Scaring was in his nature. How could he resist?

Anne crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks. She stamped a foot and turned her head off to the side.

Mercy ignored her sister's attitude and came over. "Alright. Here's the deal, mister monster. Our Daddy comes home in a couple of hours." She squatted down, then let herself rest in the dirt. She didn't care that her shorts would get filthy. "Say we let you outta there. Say that some spell of generosity comes outta me, 'n I unlock the cage, yeah? You'd need to behave. 'N so far, all you done is threaten us and look pissed off."

Randall crossed all four of his arms. His body was curled in around the cage somewhat like a snake, albeit less flexible. "Wouldn't you be pissed if you were hit over the head and kidnapped? Shoved into a cage, having no idea where you where?"

"Ha. I guess you're right." She smirked.

"An' if we let you out, you _gotta _stay with us! You jus' gotta!" Anne commented, having forgotten her anger. She now looked determined. Something cool had happened to this backwater family of three; she didn't want to just give it up and act like it never happened! No, she wanted to interact.

Randall chuckled darkly and shook his head. "Sure." He lied. "Your food didn't kill me yet, so why not?" To be honest, he still wanted to try and find a way back home. He knew he was an outlaw now. But it was still his home. Right? For some reason, he was starting to have trouble convincing himself going back was the best course of action.

Mercy bore into Randall's eyes, searching for the truth. Her face was set, and her mind whirring. "Alright. S'not like we can force you'ta stay if you run out on us." She stood up and started off to the house, as she had laid the key down in her room when she had changed clothes earlier. "Jus' don't feel right to keep you locked up like a prisoner."

Anne clapped and squealed. She wiggled where she stood and waited for her sister to come back out. Soon Mercy was at the cage again with key in hand, putting it into the thick lock and giving a firm twist. As soon as she took the lock off and unlatched the door, Randall burst through and made Mercy fall back into the dirt onto her back, as well as knocking plates out of the way.

"Ow! Warn me next time, huh?" She hissed, standing up on wobbly legs and dusting off her back and bottom.

"Hahaha!" Randall laughed in a jolly manner, climbing up the wall of the house. He easily dodged the old tools hanging from it.

"Where'ya going, Randall?" Asked Anne in awe, watching him as he went all the way up to the little black roof.

He moved around the roof until the front of the house was just a few steps forward and below. Looking out towards the distance, he finally was able to get a hold of his location. Beyond the long gravel drive way leading up to the house was the road. And on the other side of the road was a rickety looking trailer, with obvious trash littering the yard even from this distance. Following the road to the right was another little house with a prospering garden of colors in front. There were no more houses near by that he could see.

Randall turned around and climbed down to the side wall of the house, making his way to the back again. He lept onto the ground and stood back up, quickly towering over the two humans. He took delight in sizing them up. Especially the little talkative one- who he learned was called Anne by listening to them speak. "There aren't many other humans around here." He noted out loud

"Nope!" Anne replied happily, cleaning out the scraps and uneaten foods from the cage.

Mercy held her hands on her hips. Randall was easily taller than her, but she wouldn't allow that to intimidate her. "Nah, just the Barrow's over in their trailer and a little old couple who are looking after their nephew for the summer. We're not real close with neither of'em."

"Eeeyup." Anne agreed, simply.

Randall glanced around, fiddling with his hands out of habit. "I'll be back later." He said, and vanished.

Both Mercy and Anne perked up; Anne nearly dropped the plates she was holding (which took some thinking to get through the bars without opening the cage- along with the food) and pouted. "Don't leave!" She whined pathetically, shoulders sagging. But Randall was already gone- around the front, following the gravel, and towards the road.

Mercy sighed and tried to force back a smile. She picked up the lock and placed the key in her pocket, then started back for the front. "Come on, Anne, lets get the plates clean 'for Daddy gets home."

* * *

He still wasn't dead yet. The human food had yet to stop his heart or cripple him into a mess on the ground. Even if humans in general weren't truly deadly to the touch, he still had suspicions about their foods on a monster's body. But he was still moving, still breathing. Still able to snap his teeth and disappear. All he had eaten were a couple of meat sticks, still stuck to the bone of their animal. They had been fairly good, too, despite Mercy having mentioned they were left overs.

He didn't intend to be staying with the girls permanently, however if the food wasn't going to kill him there was no reason why he couldn't use the house as a hide out for a while (and get fed, naturally). But right now, he had other things to do.

Randall was on the other side of the road. He was poking around in invisibility, taking in information; looking for something helpful to his cause. Yes, he finally decided, it _was_ worth getting back to the monsters' world. For revenge.

The trailer he'd seen while on top of the girls' house was familiar up close. Even though it had been the middle of the night before, he easily recognized it now in full light. That was the place he had came to the human world from. Where he got the first bruises lumped onto his poor aching noggin. He decided he did not want to try and get inside again. At least not now, without planning.

He avoided the yard and crept on over to the other house; the one Mercy mentioned was harboring a child for the summer. It didn't sound promising since it was not the child's permanent home, but he was curious either way.

* * *

_**I feel this is a bit short- even if it's about the same length as the other chapters. Not the most eventful, but getting there! Thank you to those who have read this far into it.**_


	5. Snacks

_Tap tap tap._ A groan came from Mercy's bed. _Tap tap tap tap tap!_ The teen woke with a start, groggily shifting in her soft blankets. She sat up, then slumped back down and closed her eyes again.

_THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

She lept back up in bed flinging off her covers in the process, then turned a messy head to investigate the loud noise outside her window, which was on the far wall opposite of her bed to her left. Randall's scaled face appeared in the glass and Mercy gasped, knocking her head back against the wood of her bed. "Shhhh-" she caught herself before she cursed. She had almost forgot that Randall had slinked off after they released him that day.

Mercy clambered out of her bed and shuffled over to her window, nearly hitting her toe on the table at her bed side. It took a minute in the dark, but she slid open the window for him eventually. This time, she remembered to move away from the opening before he decided to burst through. Which he did, of course. "Could'a just used the door, stupid lizard." She grumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes and moving back to her bed.

"It was locked." He replied, as if it was an obvious answer. It should have been, being that Mercy was the one to lock it before everyone settled into their rooms.

She switched her lamp on and the room was illuminated. "Close the window, will'ya?"

Randall glared but complied. He looked around her room warily, as he had never stepped foot into a human's room who was older than nine, at the most. Teenagers were supposed to be unscareible, along with adults.

"What? You act like you never been in a girls bedroom before." Mercy said from her bed where she sat at the edge, legs crossed. Her hair was a big poof ball, and stray strands stuck out everywhere.

"That's dumb, of course I have. But they were little girls." Randall said. He had a question on his mind but was somewhat reluctant to ask it. Instead he took to taking a book off of a bookshelf and flipping through it. _'To Kill a Mockingbird.' _It looked sort of lengthy to him. He wondered what humans wrote about.

"Little girls?" Mercy asked, propping herself up by her arms.

"Yeah, that's what we do. Scare kids." He placed the book back and looked at her. "I told you before, remember?"

Mercy thought a moment, but then it came back to her. "I thought you were just trying to scare us when you said you went in childrens' rooms!"

Randall grinned his trademark toothy grin and laughed. "It was my job." He said, lifting his chest and head. "I was the best scarer there, too! No one could out scare Randall Boggs!" What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her; he'd truthfully been second best to Sullivan.

The human looked slightly shocked to imagine that children endured such things simply for the monsters' pleasure. "What sorta place even does that? Pays you to freak out lil' kids."

He rolled his eyes. "It's not like we didn't have a reason. It's how we power our cities and homes. If we sometimes made a contest out of it, so what?" He shrugged defensively, as if this 'contest' hadn't made him highly aggressive to the point he put lives at risk. Human _and_ monster lives.

Mercy rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "That sounds soooo believable."

"Well I'm not asking you to believe it. I don't care _what_ you believe." He snapped back. Then he added "I was still the best scarer, though." Followed by another toothy grin.

Then a thought occurred to Mercy. Randall had began to make his way to her shut door before her voice cut him off. "Why are you here? You're not scaring any little kids, obviously."

Randall's hand hoovered over the door knob. He hesitated, then twisted to look at her with an expressionless face, tail twitching at the tip. "That's really none of your business."

Mercy had shifted her position to continue facing him. She crossed her arms and lowered her head- if she wore glasses she would have been looking up from under them. "As long as ya stand in this house, it is!"

"Hmph." Randall sneered. He opened the door and did his vanishing trick. Mercy could hear the light pitter-patter of him moving down the hall; his four feet moving carefully and quickly over the carpet. She made a face, getting up to go look around the door frame. She whispered, not wanting to make noise. "Where do ya think you're goin'?" But he didn't reply.

She sighed. If he was going to leave he could have gone back out of the window. She shut the door back and just as soon as she got up into her bed, there was a light knock at the door. She was slightly aggravated, getting up for what felt the millionth time tonight. The door cracked before she got to it.

"Sweetie, you awake?" Came the low voice of her father.

She walked the few steps distance between she and the door and opened it to greet him. "Yeah, sorry, I woke up. Couldn't go back to sleep so ah- I was just reading."

"Out loud?" He asked. He was a tall man, standing over her. His hair was mousy brown and messy from tossing and turning in his sleep, and he was wearing sweat pants but missing a top, exposing his chest. He scratched it sleepily.

"Out loud?" Mercy parroted.

"Yeah, I thought I heard talkin'."

"Oh! Sorry, was I too loud?" She asked, scrunching up her face in exaggeration.

"Nah, was just makin' sure. Can't be too careful, could'a been someone done broke in."

Mercy smiled and laughed gently. "You're always so paranoid. You would'a heard the window shatter, or the door bust open."

He nodded and smiled sheepishly back down at her. "Ah well, g'night sweetie."

"Night Daddy." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then shuffled back to his room. Sometimes he didn't sleep very well- not since their mother left them. Mercy didn't like to think about her much.

She shut the door for a second time and yawned. Walking to her bed she finally decided it was a good idea to check her clock, which sat beside her lamp on the table. She glanced over at the bright blue digital numbers which read- "One in the morning? Aggggh." Now, she really _was_ awake.

The door opened and shut swiftly, allowing entrance to what looked like a floating bag of chips that had been torn open and ripped half way down the side. Mercy nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden noise and shock of seeing nothing but _floating chips_ enter, until she remembered Randall had exited invisible.

"Knock next time you douche!" She said, keeping a lower voice to not disturb her father again. She had placed a hand on her heart, which was beating so fast she felt it would leap out any second.

He reappeared and sat down in the middle of the room then stuck a hand down into the bag, greedily shoving a fistful of greasy chips into his wide mouth. "These aren't bad," He said with his mouthful. "but I accidentally spilled most of them in your kitchen trying to open the bag!"

"You have horrid manners!" She accused, looking appalled. She flung her legs over the far end of the bed and glared at him so hard, that if looks could kill he'd certainly have been dead by now.

"Ha," Randall laughed, wiping crumbs from his face. "like you're any better. Hey, I was going to ask you earlier, what's the deal with the family in the trailer?" It was as good a time as any to bring them up.

"Oh, you mean the Barrow's?" She asked.

"If those are the humans in the trailer." He replied smartly.

Mercy tapped her pointer on her lips and looked up at the ceiling. "Well. Where do I start with _them_. They're trailer trash, ta say the least." She shrugged. "They been in trouble fer animal abuse in th'past. Not feeding their dogs. Used to have'a lot of them dogs, too. Daddy didn't want us getting involved with them, but I guess the other neighbors called up someone cause the dogs was takin' away."

"Hm." Randall acknowledged, consuming what was left of the chips. He licked the salt off his fingers with his forked tongue. "Got kids?"

The human shrugged again. "Think they gotta toddler or somethin'. Maybe a year old? I'unno, I see a lil' girl in the yard sometimes. Then there's a boy, but he's actually about twenty. Still living with mommy! Don't see how all three of'em can live in a tiny thing like that. Must share rooms. "

Randall nodded then stood up and walked over. He held out the empty chip bag by his thumb and first finger, then dropped it onto her bed. "Here." He said.

Mercy frowned at him. "If you're gonna be eatin' all our snacks you best be cleanin' up after yourself. Like in the kitchen, for example? Don't think I'm gonna be th'one to go and clean that mess up."

The monster bared his teeth and lifted his chin condescendingly. Much like a teenager getting an attitude with their parents. "So what if I don't?"

"Randall Boggs, if'n you don't listen to me I have half'a mind to beat you over the head again n'put you right back in that little cage!"

He looked astonished. "You wouldn't dare!" Though there was a tone of pain in his voice. His head had enough bruises already, and the girl looked awful serious.

She glared up at him, stone faced. "_Randall._" She said threateningly.

He glanced around as if nervous and unable to look her in the eyes. To think he- a monster – could let himself be frightened by a mere teenager. Then again, the entire monster world had been deathly scared of children. But this was different. "Tch, fine." He finally agreed, head lowering almost down to her level (he was about a head higher than her). "I'll be right back." He grumbled in aggravation.

"Good boy." Mercy praised, smiling proudly. She just commanded a 12 foot long lizard from another dimension to go clean up a mess of chips upon the floor; she felt powerful. "Oh! And throw away the bag while you're there, too."

"Whatever you say, your highness." He said sarcastically, snatching the bag from the bed. He went invisible then opened her door and moved to obey the orders.

After wards was the matter of sleeping arrangements. He had made it clear he was not going to sleep outside. And being that Mercy seemed set on trying to go back to bed, there was a question that needed to be answered once he had returned (after assuring her he didn't just sweep the chips into his hand then dumb them on the counter).

"Bed, or floor? I have extra blankets you can borrow in my closest." Mercy said, moving from her bed to retrieve the blankets.

"I'm not sharing a bed with you!" He snapped, flattening his fronds like a cat flattens its ears.

She pulled a fuzzy blue blanket from the closest, and then a pink one after. They were identical in size and material, if only for the color. "S'not like we'd be sharing a friggin' pillow. You'd sleep at the end'a the bed." She brought the blankets and laid them onto the floor, opposite of the side with the table. "Kinda like a dog!"

He growled.

"Hey now, dogs with an attitude get put outside!"

"I'm not a dog!"

Mercy rolled her eyes, a hand on her hip. She gestured towards the blankets on the floor. "Well? You want the floor then?"

"What part of 'not sharing a bed' don't you understand?"

Mercy rose her hands up, palms showing. "Fine, fine. So mean. Hey but, when I think about it, ya should probably sleep in the closet anyway. So nobody walks in on a great big monster snoozin' beside my bed. I mean- well, so Daddy won't."

Randall nodded. "Fine." He went to scrape up the covers and went to the closet.

"Ya'might need to move some stuff outta the way." Mercy noted, climbing into her soft bed.

"That's where we come out of, you know."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Huh?"

"The closets. Monsters come out of the closets." The little space was big enough for two humans to sleep in, if they cleared the floor enough. He swept away clothes that had been tossed onto the ground and threw shoes to the sides. Then he plopped down both blankets and carved out a little nest with all four of his hands.

"Oh. Well, I could'a guessed that. Closets and under beds."

Randall shook his head. "No, just the closets." He smiled to himself when he realized how fitting it was for him to be sleeping in one. It was a shame Mercy was too old to be scared anymore. He would have had a one way ticket back home; where he could exact revenge upon his rival for all that he'd done.

"Close the door. G'night, mister monster."

"Don't call me mister monster." He grumbled before clambering into the blanket nest and complied. It was dark even without Mercy turning off the light beyond the door.

"No." She replied, slipping under the covers and turning off her lamp. It was hard to sleep.

* * *

Today was lazy; if it hadn't been for Mercy's younger sister the teen would have slept well into the afternoon. Being that Mercy had to deal with Randall waking her in the night, she could have done so with ease. Their father had already gone to work and left the two to their own summer devices. It was a Wednesday, and their father had work off on Saturday and Sunday. But today he was gone; and Mercy had opened her drowsy eyes to what her dreaming mind believed was an earthquake.

"Mercy. _Mercy! _Get up." Anne shook her sleeping sister vigorously. The older jumped in shock and squinted unadjusted eyes up at Anne, scrunching her face. She covered her eyes with the back of her hand and rolled over. "It's twelve thirty. Randall made a'mess in the kitchen. Won't listen ta me, go tell'em we ain't got no chicken."

Mercy groaned and slipped a leg out from under the covers of her warm bed. Her foot hit the ground and she stopped a second, as if she feel asleep again. A moment later she tossed the covers off of her sleeping form and squirmed up onto her two feet. "Le's get'em." She mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

The girls made their way down the hall and stepped into their joined living room and kitchen. One half of the room was carpeted (not without stains)- with a couch, chair, and small TV set. The other had tile flooring, counters with a sink, a refrigerator, dishwasher, and a small table with three chairs in the center. Everything that was once in the refrigerator littered the counters and table. There was a jar of spilled grape jelly on the floor, too. The refrigerator door was wide open. Mercy grimaced.

"I told ya." Anne said. "He wouldn't listen ta me!"

Mercy scratched her mess of a head and placed a hand on her hip. She looked around til she found a somewhat guilty looking Randall who was half way into tearing up their pantry, too. He shrugged. "What?" He asked innocently, though his face betray him. It was obvious he knew he wasn't allowed to do what he'd done. Like a puppy who knows he's not supposed to chew, but chews his masters slippers anyways then slinks off with his tail between his legs to hide.

"You done done it, now." Mercy warned, stomping toward a door off to the side in the living room that lead to a little laundry room.

Anne looked worried. "Don't go n'hurt him! Jus' wanted some breakfast!" She tried to defend, as if she wasn't the one who woke Mercy up to tattle in the first place.

"I ain't gonna hurt him." Mercy called, emerged with a broom in hand. "Get!" She said, marching over. "Y'all done get!"

Randall rose his four hands up defensively, cornered where he stood. He either had to back up into the partially empty pantry or try and slip past the advancing human girl. "I-I-I-" he stammered. "roar?"

"Nope!" Mercy took the bristly end of the old used up broom and bopped him on the head with it- over and over and over. It didn't exactly hurt but was extremely uncomfortable. Some of the bristles did happen to sting when they poked at his scales, though. He flattened his fronds the best he could in an effort to make himself smaller, then vanished and crawled around the attacking girl. He made for the couch, where he climbed over and hide around the other side, still invisible.

Anne was frowning off to the side, arms crossed. "You should'a listened ta me, Randall! Now you gotta pay with th'broom!"

Mercy glared around at the room, walking into the living room where she heard him run to. "I know you're in here, Randall. Ya either come out n'clean this mess up or you get right outta this house til we let ya'back in!"

When the monster didn't reply and the door didn't open, Mercy said "Anne, go check the other rooms." Anne nodded and went down the hall.

"Now come on out," Mercy said much more softly. "if you come out now maybe we'll help ya clean up. And maybe- _just maybe_- I'll make you somethin' to eat. And I won't hit you."

There was a short pause of silence. Then the squash purple head of the toothy monster popped up over the back of the couch, looking wary. "Will you give me some of that meat you gave me before? The little girl called chicken?"

"There you are!" _Bop! _

Randall fell backwards off the couch. "Ahh! You said you wouldn't-"

"I lied!"

Anne came running back to see what the commotion was. "Oh hey, there'e is!" She pointed. He picked himself up and disappeared once more. "Oh, never mind."

Mercy grinned. This was sort of fun. Then her broom was forcefully tugged away from her- and despite her best efforts she was unable to reach out for it as it was quickly broken in half in mid air. The pieces were tossed to the side and the monster reappeared for a second time, inches away from Mercy's face. He was barring his teeth in his usual show of defiance. Anne looked horrified but was quiet.

"You don't scare me." Mercy stated calmly, face set. "Because I know you won't do shit."

Randall's hands on the top set were lifted, as if he were ready to grab the human girl's neck and break her like a tooth pick. His fists clenched and unclenched and he snarled- but he didn't actually touch her.

Mercy grinned. "See?"

He dropped his arms and glared down at her. Then she carefully lifted a hand and stroked under his chin with two fingers, like you would a cat. "Gooood boy!" Embarrassed and feeling humiliated he moved his head away and backed up, prompting an air of smugness from Mercy.

"Well," Anne let out a breath as if she'd been holding it this whole time, then clapped her hands. "now that you done gone and broke our only broom n'we got that settled, we need to be cleanin' this up. Right, Mercy?"

"Yeah." She agreed. Finally settled down, the three set about putting back foods that weren't ruined or nibbled on and getting the sticky out of the floor from the jelly. Randall had certainly learned his place.

* * *

_**Hope you guys had a good 4th of July, to those in the U.S.A.. I went swimming with some friends at a lake, and when it got dark they had a fireworks show. Anyways- I'm trying to put forth some character development. The next chapter may not come for two or three days since I haven't actually started on the 6th chapter yet. Usually I have some or all of the next chapter typed out before posting the most recently finished one. So, that's why it may be longer before an update. **_

_**Thanks for reading.**_


	6. Moving Forward

_**Guest, I am terrible sorry to hear about your mentally disabled friend. I'm sure he is a very strong individual.**_

* * *

The night that Randall had observed the child residing in the old couple's house, he realized that in his current position there really was no way back to the other world. At least, not while he stayed with the human Mercy and the smaller human Anne. Oh- and their father.

He would have to roam. Yes, Randall decided silently on that night, that after settling and snatching up some grub he needed to set out on search of some way back. He was clever enough to know that the doorway in the trailer's house would have been shredded. There was no sense in bothering them. Especially when on the same night, after prodding Mercy on the subject, he found _those_ humans were highly violent anyways. There would have been a chance of him having his scales bruised again.

So in the morn after waking from his little closet nest in Mercy's room- he quietly went into their kitchen to look for more of that meat he had been fed before. He had planned to slip out after, but instead he made a mess and- well, you know the rest.

The cleaning done, Mercy explained they didn't actually have any more chicken on the premises. She would have to go to the store in town and buy some. This was both good news and bad. On one hand- he would have to wait for something good to eat. On the other, he found after some begging she said he could go with her. Because- "To be honest, I'm scared ta leave you alone Randall."

So the girls got dressed and prepared to leave. Mercy had a banged up used truck which was an ugly shade of faded green. Like a mash of baby food that had to become an 'airplane' to get eaten. Anne came with them as well, being that unless she really had to Mercy felt she was too young to just stay by herself. She wanted to come along, anyways. They would have called their father before leaving to see if there was anything he needed, but Mercy decided against it for whatever reason.

Randall had refused to sit invisible in the back of the truck like Anne suggested. She said it would be fun, but he just shook his head. In the end he was in the back, anyways, the wind and road rough on him. But there was plenty room and nobody could bother him nor see him. He felt sick to his stomach by the time they had reached the store.

"Ugh," he grumbled, clambering out of the end of the truck, still unseen. "I feel like I could puke."

Mercy slammed her door shut. She didn't carry a purse so she latched the keys onto one of her belt loops. Her wallet was in her back pocket. She laughed. "Randall I don't think you should go in with us." She was looking where she had heard his voice.

"That's dumb!" Anne said, now beside her sister. "You didn't want him alone in th'house, but he could do jus' as much damage sittin' in the truck!"

The older sister looked a little embarrassed at her stupidity. "Oh, well, whatever." She hated feeling dumb. "Gettin' smart with me." She mumbled under her breath. "Just don't let no body see you, m'kay Randall?"

Randall, who knew better than to show his scales off in such a public place, crossed his arms (though nobody could see) and tilted his head up. "I'm not stupid."

"Nah, yer not." Mercy said sweetly. "Just really destructive."

"Come on! I wan' get some strawberries!" Anne chirped, starting off towards the store entrance. The sun was beating down on the three of them painfully, and they had to walk halfway across the parking lot to get inside. So they all hurried up towards the source of cool air.

The doors were automatic. The store was rather large, so even though the parking lot was fairly full there were plenty of empty isles. Anne had a shopping list and read off things as they passed by certain isles, prompting them to go collect what they needed as they went along. It was only a few things, however they still used a shopping cart.

Almost ten minutes into their shopping trip, Anne whispered "Randall? You still followin' us?" When no reply came the short haired girl began to panic. "Mercy, I think Randall ran off!"

Mercy retrieved some chocolate mix from the shelf on the right and sat it in the cart. They often ran out of chocolate mix quickly, being Anne was so addicted to chocolate milk and refused to drink it from a carton. "Ah let'em. Long as he don't go n'bother no one n'get himself seen he ain't doin' no harm. But we do need ta find'em before we leave."

Anne's face was skewered in worry. "But how can we find'em? He's invisible!"

A crash clattered the cart as a large bag fell into from what appeared to be the ceiling. It startled the two girls, and they stared wide eyed up at where it had come from. "What the fuck?"

Anne glanced at the frozen bag in the cart. "S'chicken- Randall!"

"What?" Whined the invisible monster from above. He was obviously perched on top of the shelf. "No one saw me!" He rasped down at them. Then he appeared and snickered, thinking no one would see him, being that the isle was empty.

Mercy face palmed, dragging her bottom lip down in the action. She sighed loudly. "Stop that!"

He stuck out his blue forked tongue and eased out of vision again.

"What's next?" Asked Mercy.

Anne 'hmph'ed and took the crumpled piece of torn out notebook paper. "Strawberries!" She clapped, cheery.

Mercy gave a singular laugh, told Randall to get off the shelf, and then they went off to collect a bundle of strawberries in the fruit section. After, Mercy found a register, paid, and they left the kart up front being that both girls could carry the bags.

They set the few bags down behind the seats of the truck. "Hey," Randall said, appearing. He was growing tired of being unseen, and was increasingly caring less about someone noticing him in the parking lot. "Mercy."

"Hmmmm? You gonna get seen!" Mercy scolded. Anne got up in her side of the truck and closed the door. Mercy stood outside, a hand on her hip and the other on the door frame.

"Oh shut up. Listen," His voice lowered "after this I have things to do."

Mercy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Oh?"

"I know I said I'd stick around. But I have to go back home. I need to find some children."

"You're not really leavin', are ya?" Asked a sad Anne from the truck, craning her neck to see Randall from inside.

Mercy shook her head at him. "What ya need kids for?"

"The closets. I told you, we come from the closest- and I need to find a kid with a monster." He wrung his first set of hands in his usual habit. "Shouldn't be hard. I just. . thought I'd tell you."

She nodded, thinking it over. Then, she finally said "Well, I can't stop ya. Can hit ya over the head with a broom as much as I like, shove ya in a cage- but it ain't right keepin' no one locked up like n'animal. 'Sides, it's Anne that'll be upset."

Anne bounced a little, pouting. "I'll- I'll cry if you leave, n'then you'll feel sorry!" She half-yelled pitifully.

Mercy ignored her and got in the truck; her back felt like it was on fire from the sun. After she was sure Randall was situated in the back, she started the truck and they were headed home.

He was gone after being fed; Anne locked herself in her room and cried her eyes out. They hadn't known the monster for long, but she was sure taking it hard. Mercy decided the best thing to do was leave her alone to get it out of her system. Then when she finally had calmed down a little, Mercy could talk with her.

Mercy had to admit; she was disappointed to let him go. In fact, she was _highly_ disappointed. She went to sulk in her room, though she wouldn't allow herself to be a big baby like her little sister. Instead she sat in bed and scribbled in her notebook. She wrote a short diary entry to list the details of the past events with the giant lizard, and even doodled a little pencil drawing of him under it. She gave him his squinty eyes and big uneven toothed grin. Mercy smiled back at it.

* * *

_**Short dull chapter, moving the plot along a little bit now near the end. Randall's about to get his plan in action, what little plan he thinks he has. . .**_


	7. Dud Doors

Four days. Four days since the monster had moved on. Anne had since stopped wallowing in tears and perked back up. Nothing could keep her down for long. She hadn't known Randall long enough to truly imprint on him- his loss felt like when you play an amazing game then one day find it no longer works. Empty and frustrated, but over all it's not that big a deal.

Even if she were still deeply depressed, she wouldn't allow herself to show it around their father for fear he may ask the reason. So she kept to a happy demeanor, which was natural to her. Anne's smiling face helped keep a light mood. Being a Sunday, their father was at home.

It was about two in the afternoon; Mercy and her father sat on the couch watching a nature documentary on some sort of exotic birds. The birds were colorful and jumped about the screen trying to attract mates. Anne had been in her room, so nobody noticed when she walked into the joined living room and kitchen and stood there. She flopped her arms about at her side and sighed loudly when nobody noticed. "I'm _bored_."

Without looking, Mercy replied "Go draw or somethin'."

Anne wrinkled her nose and tilted her head. "Daddy?" She asked innocently.

"Hm?" He hummed as a commercial came on T.V..

"Can we got to th'paaaark?" She swung her arms back and forth and kicked a barefoot slightly on the carpet. Mercy rolled her eyes at her sister's attempt to be cute.

He turned his head to look at his little girl, smiling sweetly at her. "Know what? We should all go out ta eat." The family hardly ever went out to restaurants, and it had been some time since they had gone out and spent time together in public. When their father was home they enjoyed spending quality time together if he wasn't tired; being why Anne had asked to go to the park. It was a bonus if he had the money and will to go out to eat, too!

Anne jumped up and down a squeeled. "Let's go to Chuck-E-Cheese's!"

"What does miss all-grown-up want?" Asked their father, turning to grin at Mercy who repositioned on the couch so her legs were to her chest.

"I could do pizza."

"Yay yay yay yay yay-" Anne spun in circles and clapped her hands. Her short hair bounced and flew as she spun. "Arcade games!"

Everyone got dressed properly for public interaction, then they shut off the TV and went out to the car. They would not be leaving in Mercy's old truck this time.

* * *

"I can't believe y'played games fer _three_ hours!" Exclaimed Mercy, who was walking towards the swings of the park. They all decided it was still early enough to have some time to romp about the town's little park before heading home. Anne had insisted on it especially- it was where she had wanted to go in the first place.

"I gotta ton'a tickets, too!" The younger boasted, walking backwards ahead of Mercy. She was grinning proudly when she nearly tripped- but flailed her arms about and reclaimed balance before meeting the ground. "Won'a panda bear."

"I know, I know, I was there!"

Their dad was following behind, before heading towards a picnic table that was in the shade of a large old oak tree. "We're not gonna stay for more than n'hour, got that chillens?" He called to them.

"Awwww." Whined Anne.

They reached the swings, and first thing Anne kicked off hard. She wanted to fly. Mercy was gentler, and preferred a slower pace. It also helped her stomach was so full of pizza, and if Anne hadn't been bouncing around the restaurant she would be much fuller as well. Mercy swung low and other wise observed her surrounds, while Anne took to singing loudly. Mercy couldn't understand it due to the rate at which Anne was going back and forth. The words- from where Mercy was- seemed to skip.

After about five minutes Mercy went to a complete stop. She loved just sitting in the swings; it reminded her of elementary school. High school didn't have a playground. Anne continued about her business, ignoring everything around her in favor of panting out song lyrics, though Mercy was sure she changed the song every minute or so.

As she sat there, head leaning on the slightly rusted chain, she went into deep thought. Amongst frivolous imagination, it came as a surprise when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She jumped a little and twisted her body to greet whoever it was- who she had actually assumed to be her father. She was greeted with nothing but air. She narrowed her eyes, looking towards her father who was still in the same spot. He smiled and waved at her as a man came up to him. The two shook hands and began to talk.

"Hm." Mercy turned back around and nearly screamed when there came a flash of purple and a harsh-

"Boo!"

She gasped and covered her mouth, scared out her wits from the surprise. Her legs straightened back – as if she were about to let herself drop and beginning to swing. Randall- the little bastard- was right up in her face and began to crackle. Besides Mercy and her family, the only other people in the park was the man her father was speaking to and a little girl playing in the sandbox some ways off. So Randall must have figured it safe enough to be a little douche and give her a jump scare.

"Randaaaaaaall!" Yelled Anne happily. She was already exhilarated from the pizza, prize, and now the swings- but of all things to stir her up Randall had to give a visit.

He backed up from the older human and crossed his arms, lifting his head. "Hey'ya." He said coolly. He appeared to be keeping an eye on the adults, who were lost in conversation at the table; far enough away not to hear him speaking.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Mercy rasped in frustration, full of adrenalin, prompting another laugh from Randall.

Anne had skidded to a quick halt and a big cloud of dust followed. She was grinning widely, still full of energy despite the hours in the arcade. "Randaaaaaaall!" She squeaked again, jumping up and launching herself into the purple and blue monster. He looked distressed and awkward as she clung onto him, his arms opening wide as if not to touch her. She was a foot and a half shorter than Mercy; she seemed so small to him.

Mercy was full of questions. She thought by now he would have been long gone, back to where ever it was monsters came from. But this was not a place for open talk. Not when her dad could easily turn his head and spot the beast. "What are you doin' here? This isn't a place ta talk- let's go behind th'bathrooms!" She pointed.

Randall shuttered slightly at the raven haired girl rubbing her cheek on his scales. It was sort of nice to be missed so badly, even if the kid only knew him for about a day and a half. "Yeah." He merged into the background, shook Anne off with some effort, and casually made his way to the old brick building that was used as a restroom.

Mercy had since gotten out of the swing. She hollered back "Hey Daddy- we're gonna go to th'bathroom!"

He glanced over at them and nodded his head, but otherwise continued to listen to whatever it was the unknown man was chattering about. The man was much fatter than their father, and had sat down beside him now. Mercy could only assume it was an old friend or co-worker. Either way, that wasn't important now.

Anne skipped off to the bathrooms already, having left Mercy behind. She grinned and followed briskly til they reached the back of the building. It was just a large square brick house, one side for men the other for women. There were no doors on the entrances, and on the inside (of both gender's areas) smelt like it hadn't been cleaned in years. But the little reuniting group stood around back out of the eyes of the few park inhabitants, so they didn't need to worry about the smell.

Mercy chuckled; her sister had latched onto a pathetic looking Randall again. He pouted at Mercy. "Alright, alright," Mercy began "leave th'poor monster alone."

Anne's face mimicked Randall's own pathetic expression as she looked up at her sister.

"Now."

She let go and sulked angrily. "Randall!" Mercy then exclaimed with a big smile. "Thought you done gone and left! The heck you doin' in a _park?_"

"Oh, no 'good to see you Randall- I think you've gotten more handsome since I first met you'?" He teased, head lowering to her level a distance between them.

Mercy tapped her foot impatiently. "You're right, come'er." She crooned, stepping forward and moving as if she we going to scratch him like a dog.

Suddenly he wasn't so keen on teasing and seemed embarrassed. "No no no I was just kidding!" He retorted, lifting his hands. Mercy grinned and stopped, moving back in place.

"Ey Randall," Anne had perked back up. It amazed Mercy how quickly her sister could go from sappy to happy. "you wanna mint?" She offered, taking a mint from her pocket and waving it about. She had a fistful in her pocket from the restaurant.

He looked suspicious but took it, unwrapped it, and tossed it casually into his maw. Rather than suck on it, it was crushed into little bits and swallowed.

"Randall you didn't answer my question." Mercy said.

He licked at his teeth with his forked tongue. "And what was that?"

"The heck you doin' in a park?"

"Mmmm." He searched for the right words, looking up. When he found them he gave eye contact and spoke slowly. "What better place to find potential doors, then to follow children home from the town playground?"

Anne laughed stupidly and nodded. "That's creepy." Then she thought a moment. "Doors?"

The older sister watched him accusingly, drumming fingers on her pants. She shifting her weight onto one leg. "Hope you ain't scarin' them kids. You ain't found no door yet?"

Randall shook his big head. "I only followed about six home. Two lived close enough to walk, the rest had to come in cars. Do you know how tedious it is to cling into the top of a car? And then later find your way back to the same place when they're duds?" He suddenly looked rather exhausted to Mercy. She gave him a look of pity.

"Doors?" Anne repeated. Randall hadn't explained anything to the little one like he had Mercy the night before he went off.

Mercy nodded, shifting legs. "Yeah, like, they come outta doors n'stuff to scare kids because. . . it powers homes or somethin'." Her tone got more skeptical as she explained it. "Apparently, he was paid ta do this? N'won't tell me why he was kicked out into th'human world? Some of it sounds like B.S. to me."

Randall glared. "I'm a talking eight legged lizard who can change colors and go invisible, and you want to question _that?_"

She lifted a finger up and opened her mouth, but then shut it and lowered her arm. "Touch_é_ ."

"Well, I believe him." Anne stated, looking snobbish. "I didn't know you could change colors though!"

"Me either. You only ever went invisible." Mercy agreed. "Do it!"

Randall sneered.

"I'll give ya 'nother mint!" Anne encouraged, picking out another one of the fresh little hard candies from her pocket.

He sneered harder. Then, his scales turned a shade of white, and red stripes ringed around his body. He was a mint! Rather more like a candy cane. "Happy? Gimme." He reached out a grabby hand, and Anne popped the candy into his palm.

"That is so cool!" She squeaked.

"I'll give ya a chocolate mint if you do another one." Mercy said with awe in her voice, after Randall had consumed the crunchy mint.

His eyes lit up, and he now seemed more than happy to preform his trick again. He turned himself pink with green limbs, which was a sight to see. Like some tropical reptile from an alien world. He stepped closer and held out his hand like he had before.

"Awwww, whadda good lizard!" Mercy sung, petting his head and handing over a slightly melted piece of mint chocolate from her pocket. He grimaced at the petting but allowed her to do it. Then he pulled his head back and did to the chocolate what he had done to the previous two mints.

"Oh Mercy, I bet he's hungry!"

She nodded. "And tired. Bet you was sleepin' in trees."

He looked pissed at the accusation despite its truth. He hadn't thought sleeping inside a human house was such a good idea.

"Randall we gotta go before Daddy thinks somethin' done happened." Mercy said, sadness in her voice. "But if you wanna come back with us-" she added more hopefully.

"Pleeeeease!" Begged Anne.

He didn't want to admit his weakness, but the thought of that closet nest was so appealing to him. He was also just a little lonesome. Don't tell anyone, though. "_Fine._" He almost hissed, looking defeated.

"Yaaaay!" And Anne was upon him again.

* * *

_He was a monster. Yes; one hundred percent monster. A beast of great power who could- if he so desired- rip weaker creatures into shreds with his God given teeth. Randall Boggs was indeed scary. So he had to be careful. Sneaky, like before the roar. Keeping silent in the dark of a child's room. He couldn't allow any of the children he followed home (or their parents) see him in the slightest. What a challenge, considering if there was no active door in the house he had to also get back outside._

_The first four did not have doors. At least not for the time being. There would have been evidence of it; there always was. A child was more prone to jump at sounds, and more creative ones took to drawing their monster. None of the first four were promising at all._

_But ah- the fifth was so close. The fifth was a little girl of the age seven, who had worn pig tails to the park tied with pink hair ties. She had skipped about and favored the slide. She was one who Randall could trail behind as she walked hand-in-hand with her mother back home. They did not suspect a thing._

_The girl and her mother (there did not appear to be a father present) lived in a ruddy apartment building in a older part of town. Randall was able to slither in easily as the child had been rather slow. The child and the mother, after a change into more comfortable clothing, had gathered onto the single couch and watched a film on T.V. together. This allowed Randall to pick through the little girl's room._

_It was disappointing. Drawings were taped to the walls. Pictures of bunnies and cats and families with big wobbly crayon smiles. Nothing odd there. There was, however, a drawing of a big poof ball of blue with silly eyes on her desk. It sprouted two big horns from the top of its head, like bull horns, and had a big smile with buck teeth. At that moment he had felt this girl a success. If he stayed over night he could wait for her closet door to open. _

_Night fell and the girl was tucked into bed. All Randall had to do was stand still in invisibility as she fell asleep. He was so ready to see the closet door open- when he glanced at the child and his mouth dropped. In the resting girl's clutches was a poof ball of blue, googly eyes, horns, and a silly smile. She had been drawing a stuffed animal! A whole day wasted._

_The sixth he followed was a toddler who had to be driven home. However, she was just as unsuccessful, and not worth mentioning._

* * *

Randall finished his story of the past four days to the two girls. They had situated in Anne's room just after dinner (Randall had hid in her room) to listen to him. There hadn't been much to tell, honestly. He sat slightly curled around on himself at the end of the girls single bed. He was full of left overs the girls had snuck him, and his tail fell over the edge slightly. The sisters were at the other end with the pillows, and had listened without interruption.

"Gee," Anne began "you sure did have'n eventful couple'a days!"

"Tch, if you call that eventful. Such a waste of time." He looked sad, staring down at the covers.

"You should'a just waited a full night n'all th'kids rooms. Bet one of the doors would'a opened."

Randall shook his head. "That would take so loooong."

Mercy grinned at him and tilted her head. She decided to try a question again. "Why are you here?" She recalled asking the night before he left, and he seemed touchy on the subject.

He looked up and glanced at Anne, then back to Mercy. "It's not important." He said simply. "Only thing that matters is getting back."

That was not a good answer. "Listen, if ya done somethin' bad-"

"Yeah, we'd still love'ya!" Anne cut her sister off. It wasn't what Mercy was going to say, but it was good enough.

Randall looked back down. "Hmph." He thought it over a second. What harm could it possibly do? _They won't let you stay in their house any longer. _He told himself. So he watered it down a little."All I wanted was a little more recognition."

Well, it was a start. "Yeah? Go on, what happened?" Mercy edged, as if talking to a child who had been traumatized.

"Just a liiiittle more recognition, that was it. So I did something I probably shouldn't have. It was a good idea at the time but a mistake of my career. Now I'm here!" He was still refusing to look them in the eyes. He looked somewhat awkward to admit what he had done was the wrong thing to do. It didn't change the thought of revenge, however. Though, Randall felt somewhere deep inside his stubborn psyche, he was starting to enjoy the company of the- _no no_, what a horrible thought!

If humans where so vile, why was he openly allowing them to feed him, and sitting comfortably on one's bed? He felt light headed. He decided not to bring this up.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Mercy replied, voice lowered. She decided not to ask what this 'mistake' was at the moment. Her eyes showed compassion when Randall finally decided to look up.

"Yeah, 'cause Daddy says everyone makes mistakes." Anne nodded vigorously, giving him puppy dog eyes.

He found himself smiling involuntary. Before he knew it there was a hand upon his head, like earlier in the park. He felt himself flinching before he relaxed at the touch. Mercy was getting into the habit of touching him; as a reward or comfort. She flashed him a hopeful smile and then tried to flatten his fronds, which simply popped back up again. "We'll help ya." She said.

Anne scooted over and, knowing his earlier discomfort with her hugs, copied her sister and instead stroked his back. "Yes!"

Despite getting the feeling they saw him as not simply a person, but a sentient animal (even though they knew what he was), he still allowed them to pet him. It actually felt good. Randall was not touched gently often and, to be quite honest, human hands were extremely soft. He was feeling drowsy.

* * *

_**A longer chapter, but split into a few parts. Bit of a time skip. Thanks for reading.**_


	8. Teddy Bear Hugger

_**I am having such a horrible time writing at the moment, things may be updated a little slower than usual. Sorry.**_

* * *

Anne knew kids. Being that Anne was 12, she still went to Elementary school. She shared a school with classes full of children just old enough to be scared. By the morning she was ready to peek through one of her year books to search for kids she recognized from around the school. Anne could not think of names off of the top of her head, naturally. However she knew the faces and names of bed wetters and thumb suckers when she saw them.

So, she made a list, and prepared to wake up her sister in excitement. It was a Monday so their father had left for work; the three had the house to themselves. Grinning madly she creaked open her door and looked down the hall. A step into the short corridor, and there came a _'knock-knock.' _It took half a minute of confusion and thinking to realize it was the front door.

Anne knew it was not a good idea to open the door to strangers without Mercy or their dad. But she was curious. She left the list behind in her room and hastily made her way to the living room. The front door had a diamond shaped window near the top, so standing on her tippy-toes she was able to just barely peek outside.

_'Knock-knock.'_

She knew that face. Yes- that was none other than the face of the young man next door. The one who lived with his mother in the trailer; who had helped in abusing poor dogs for a long time. Anne felt uneasy. The Barrows _never_ spoke to them, except to complain for whatever reason. She opened the door slowly and gave a fake smile up at the man, though her eyes looked quizzical. "Um, hello." It made it even more awkward that she was in her pajamas, so she hid slightly behind the door.

"Howdy. Yer pa home?" The man asked. He was scrawny with large arms. A messy tuft of black hair covered his head, poking out in all directions. Anne thought it looked greasy, as if he hadn't showered for a while. There was stumble poking out on his chin, which looked uncomfortable. He was wearing a white wife beater which was covered in brown stains- much like coffee stains. Anne recalled his name was Jacob. Jacob Borrow.

"Nah, he went ta work. My sis is home, though. She's sleepin'." Anne replied slowly, scratching her messy head.

Jacob nodded, taking a moment to look off. He shifted his weight and hooked his thumbs through his blue jean pants. "Well you need ta tell'em that we done seen a gator, n'to be lookin' out fer it." His eyes showed a suspicion, which he concealed in his voice.

Anne almost laughed at how preposterous it sounded. "A gator? This far from the swamp?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You callin' me a liar little girl?"

She was completely straight faced. "Ah, no Mr. Barrow. I just ain't never seen no gator that far 'way from water is all. Mean, they come up on land, but not this far." She rambled.

Jacob nodded slowly. "Well ain't the first _we_ done saw, neither. Reckon it's the same one, only last we saw I didn't get ta teach'em a lesson cause he was too quick. But first time I saw it, nearly killed it!" He said in pride, swelling. He was the sort who found sport in dangerous animals.

"Oh. Okay." Anne replied dumbly. They stood there in silence for a minute before he decided he was done there.

"Well ma just wanted ya to know. I didn't wanna tell ya, so that's why didn't say nothin' day or so ago when we done saw'em. Reckon I'll be goin' now. You watch out for it, cause gators eat little kids like you for breakfast!" He laughed evilly, clapped, then headed back down their drive way towards his home.

Anne rolled her eyes, sneered, and shut the door, locking it behind her. An alligator- this close to their small neighborhood? Impossible. She shook her head and smiled lightly, then went to wake her sister.

* * *

This was Anne's little mission. She had found the monster, and now she wanted to be a bigger part of his life. After all the monster hunts that had failed in years passed, she had finally succeeded. And now she was helping the monster to leave. Not that she wanted him to; but she wanted his affection. For some reason she found herself looking up to him. He would be proud of her if she did a good job. So after having breakfast (pancakes and bacon) Mercy and Randall were ready to execute what Anne had cooked up in the early hours she had woken up to.

"So," Anne had said, handing them her list as they all ate. "all we gotta do is show up at their door step, n'ask to come in!"

"Anne, they may not wanna let us in." Mercy had retorted grimly.

"Yeah, but outta the twelve kids I listed don't ya think some of them will? Just say I know'em from school, n'they'll let us in!"

Mercy had taken a moment of thought before shrugging and saying. "I'll have ta look up their last names in th'White Pages. Get their addresses."

"This better work." Grumbled Randall, who had already eaten about six strips of bacon.

Both Randall and Mercy had to admit- it seemed too easy. But Anne was right; surely out of the twelve children listed they'd be able to get inside on a couple accounts just by claiming friendship to the child. Mercy was to pose herself as a distraction to the adults, while Anne and Randall got at the kid. Anne could speak to the child and (hopefully) get them to another room or the outdoors. That way Randall could poke about the room.

The first three tries had been successful, in the form of convincing the parents to allow them inside. Randall did not think them worthy of staying the night at, though. The fourth child had a mother clever enough to actually ask the child if they knew the girl. So, they had the door shut in their faces with a fake "Sorry."

Now they were staring at the steps leading up to a large wooden door. The wooden door, in turn, lead inside a two story white house. It looked rather rich. Anne allowed her mouth to drop open when Mercy pulled up in the drive.

"Alright, everybody out. You know what we gotta do. Let's hope they let us in." Mercy said.

The truck was unloaded of passengers. Mercy fixed her hair before she closed the truck's door and went up the steps with the others. Randall made himself invisible and Mercy rang the door bell. The chime sounded more like the _'dong dong'_ of an old clock, though. When nobody came to the door, she rang again. When it finally opened, the three (or, visibly, two) were greeted by a little girl the age of- well, a girl who had just started the first grade according to Anne. She seemed short for her age, however, and had long blonde hair. She was wearing a short blue dress and a mismatching pink tutu.

"Hello!" Mercy said sweetly. "Where are your parents?" She looked over the girl's head into the house.

"They went to th'store!" She squeaked in her childish voice, smiling dumbly and staring up at Mercy.

"Oh? They just left you alone?" Mercy asked, astonished. She hadn't expected such a thing- especially from a family living in such wealth for their town.

The little girl nodded. "Uh-huh. Mommy said 'don't you answer the door for no one!'"

Anne rose her eyebrow but continued to keep quiet. "Huh, that's funny." Mercy said humorously. "Because you _did_ open the door, didn't you?"

The blonde child looked confused for a moment, then scared as she realized her mistake. "Ahh! Oops!" She tried to close the door but Mercy easily kept it held open with a hand.

"Well, it'll be our lil' secret. My sister knows you!" Mercy pointed at the girl. "She knows you from school. She says y'take a teddy bear to class."

The child stopped trying to force the door shut and looked at Anne. "Your sister?"

"Yes, can we come in? She has trouble makin' friends you see."

Anne bent over slightly. "I know your name, you're Elizabeth right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'm Elizabeth, but why come here?" She asked.

"Cause I wanna be your friend."

The child smiled. "You come and play?"

Anne smiled back and nodded at her, straightening back up. The poor kid would have been dead by now had it been anyone but them.

To think the parents just left her there alone frightened Mercy. She had half a mind to stay home with the kid until the parents returned, however she knew if the parents caught them in the house then they might be reported to the police. How were they to know that Mercy and Anne didn't show up to try something funny or steal their stuff? So, as much as Mercy wanted, she understood that they would need to be quick. Poor kid.

Elizabeth took Anne's wrist and tried to drag her inside. Anne allowed herself to be led upstairs and up to the child's room.

"I feel bad for her." Mercy said quietly as she walked in the house and silently shut the door behind her, once Randall had stepped inside and appeared.

"Why?" He asked, eying the upstairs. He wanted to go to her room.

"Irresponsible parents. Reminds me so much of mom. Th'child knows no better." Mercy sighed and shook her head. There was a tinge of sadness in her eyes, but she gave a smile towards the purple lizard in spite of it. "Let's go find Anne."

Randall frowned; he never realized how strong Mercy must be on the inside. He almost didn't want to think about what she meant about her mother. He decided it was not the time to inquire about this at the moment, and disappeared to follow her up the stairs in search of the younger girl.

They found Anne sitting on the floor of a big pink room, having dolls and toys shoved at her. The little girl was rambling something off about each one as she handed them to Anne. Explaining in baby words her personal universe. Anne looked up at, giving an awkward grin towards Mercy as she leaned on the door frame. Almost asking for help.

"Elizabeth, do ya have anything ta eat? I think Anne is hungry." Mercy tried, hoping the girl would fall for it.

Elizabeth looked over at Mercy as if she hadn't noticed her standing there. "Oh! Sammich!" She said happily. "Come on, we go to kitchen. I can make peanut butter jelly on my own." She pulled on Anne as she did at the door before, and they moved awkwardly down the top floor hall, back down the stairs, and into the kitchen. They left Mercy behind at the door frame where she stood but Elizabeth didn't seem to notice or care.

Randall fabricated himself once more after the child was gone. He scampered into the pink room. It was filled with large stuffed animals and doll houses. The kid was spoiled rotten! She even had her own personal TV which was hooked up to a game system of sorts. Randall was looking around for anything interesting. "There's gotta be something." He growled. "I'm so tired of this."

Mercy sighed and laughed internally at him. She glanced at a clock (which looked somewhat like a flower) on the wall. It was almost noon."Sorry. I'm going to be sad when you go."

Without turning towards her he involuntarily smiled. Which, of course, he quickly made vanish as he began poking about the kids things. He pulled open a drawer from a little desk. It was full of colored pencils and construction paper. There were packs of markers and crayons, and there was even tape and safety scissors. Spoiled indeed.

"Hey." He said softly, as if not wanting to be truly heard. He began to look through stacks of paper upon her desk. "Thanks for this. Really." He glanced at paper by paper, and when finding nothing useful would toss them lazily back onto the desk.

"Oh no, really, don't worry 'bout it. Anne was so excited when she finally found a'monster. Always talkin' about Bigfoot, and swamp apes, and UFOs." Mercy laughed. "She's happy ta help, and so am I."

Randall frowned at the papers. He had looked through about twenty little doodles, and was now out of paper. Nothing on (or in) the desk had been of any use. He looked around the room frantically, as if it were on fire, until he spotted a little book on a table beside the child's large made up bed.

"There anything I can do? Ain't no parents to distract." Mercy shrugged, taking a few steps into the room.

"Ahhh, I don't know. " Randall brushed her off as he was now busy with the little book. The book was thick and had a the face of kitten on the cover. It was closed by a strap with a magnet at the end, which stuck to the cover but easily opened up. It was a diary! "You can look through that drawer." He motioned with one of his bottom hands towards the drawer on the table, while flipping through the book with his top hands.

"Alright!" Mercy waltzed towards the table and opened the drawer. There were a few pencils inside and a couple of old coins, but nothing more. "Ain't nothin' in here."

"Mmm." Randall nodded, distracted. He couldn't read the chicken scratch of the diary. The girl was keen on doodling images, however, so he kept looking. He seemed shocked when he flipped past something familiar. His teeth bared, he fingered his way back to the offending sketch. _Jack pot._

On the page was a big fat green circle with stick arms and legs. In the middle a big (almost scary) eye and nubby, sharp horns protruding from the head. He was smiling. In the corner was another face, with messy blonde hair and a smile to match the green blob. "Wazowski!"

* * *

Night couldn't have come any sooner, Randall decided after hours of laying in wait. The sisters had long since left the rich house, and eventually the child's parents had returned. He figured it would be simpler for him to stay put in the child's room. Even if Randall was invisible and oh-so-careful, he did not want to risk bumping anything or being run into accidentally. So he ended up (in boredom) crawling under the kid's bed and falling asleep. He did not want to be tripped over, so this was a good idea in his opinion.

He had quickly stirred into consciousness when the parents went to tuck little Elizabeth into her bed. He heard them kiss her good night then leave the room. The girl tossed a little and whispered to what Randall imagined must have been a teddy bear, before she finally fell silent. He crawled out from under the bed, keeping to his invisibility, and looked down at the sleeping child. What he wouldn't give to violently wake her with a growl. It was his instinct, but he ignored it. Mercy's disapproval would kill him.

He sat and stared at the closet door, both sets of arms crossed. Soon, Randall found his mind wandering to what had happened after he discovered the green one eyed monster's picture.

* * *

_Randall had explained the situation to the sisters. Well- moreover giving instruction to Mercy, who relayed to Anne. He would be staying the night at Elizabeth's house. In turn the sisters would go home and wait for tomorrow. There had been slight protest from Mercy, on the account she seemed somewhat upset. As if she hadn't expected to find any evidence of a door he could return through._

"_Thank you." He'd said to Mercy as she frowned deeply at him. "Thank you, so much Mercy. I'm going to get to go back because of you and Anne." As a prisoner. . . no, shut up!_

_The brunette uncrossed her arms and trotted to him quickly, almost squeezing the daylights out of him in a bear hug. He hadn't imagined her to strong! "Listen, if- if you can't get back, or if you- you wanna stay longer, meet us in the park. Tomorrow at noon- at the swings like last time." She pulled back to look up at him. "Okay, mister monster? Don't you forget!"_

_He softened at her sad gaze. "I won't forget. Park, swings, noon." Then, he had done something he wouldn't have expected of himself when he first arrived to their world. He put all four of his scrawny arms around her body, pulled her in, and hugged her back. He even had allowed himself to pull one of his hands carefully through her soft long hair. Then, he gave her the order to leave the house, and she went downstairs sadly to collect her sister._

_He thought he could hear Anne sniffling loudly on her walk to the truck. Randall sighed and prepared for the wait he would endure._

* * *

Shook from the memory he snapped his big green orbs to the door knob of the girls closet. It wiggled gently, then the door opened with a soft 'click.' Randall grinned, almost purring, when he saw the round green monster waltz into the room as if he didn't care about being heard.

* * *

_**Sorry for all the line breaks. Things are really about to start speeding up. ;] Thanks for reading.**_


	9. The Truth Hurts

It was time to make an entrance! He slithered up in the way, still grinning madly. The monster could not see him. This would be hilarious. He stood arched on his first set of legs so he would have three pairs of useable arms- it made him taller. He planted the hands on his hips and in a short few seconds, the green monster flailed and fell back with a confused grunt.

"What the?" He mumbled, standing up swiftly. He eyed the spot in front of him, a corner of his mouth arched.

Then, right as he was getting ready to jab at the air, Randall quickly allowed himself into being and half hissed in a whisper "Wazowski!"

"Waaah!" Mike stepped back, startled immensely. His big blue-green eye looked up widely at the taller monster's head. It was quite a surprise the child hadn't woken from this. "Randall!" He whispered harshly in disbelief. He looked torn between talking to him and darting back into the closet- into the monster's world.

"Hey, Mike." Randall chuckled darkly. "How's it been on the other side?" The innocent question was tainted with angry overtones. "Since when were _you_ a scarer?"

Mike bit his lip and looked highly tense, now keeping a distance. "What are you doing here?" He whispered roughly.

"I was banished here, remember?" Randall wrung his first two sets of hands, falling back so his third set supported him as normal.

"Yeah but, in a kid's room?" He paused. "Oh wait- oh no you don't- you can't go back through my door, ohhhhh no!"

Randall chuckled again, lowering his head slightly. "Clever. Who's gonna stop me, pipsqueak?"

The green monster shook his head (which was pretty much his whole body) and scowled. "Listen, pal, if you go back you'll just be held at the factory until the police can get there to take you off to jail. Who knows, maybe they'll just banish you somewhere there are no humans!"

This seemed to throw him off a moment, but he didn't falter. "I can sneak in with my invisibility, duh."

Mike's scowl deepened. "Then become an outlaw, see if I care!" He threw his hands up. "Nobody is gonna let you off easy for what you did. We don't need backwards thinkers like you anyhow, things have changed. So even if they ever did let you out of jail, and you got a job, you wouldn't be any good at it." He pointed at the lizard, glaring.

This hit Randall hard. Who did this little thing think he was? He growled dangerously, lips parting to show his uneven teeth, eyes narrowed.

Mike lifted up his hands defensively, showing his palms. "Woah woah, calm down! Okay just, calm down, I'll show you what I mean. But you're not getting through my door! Watch and learn, lizard face." He smirked smugly and swaggered to the kid's bed.

Randall kept his eyes glued to Mike as he strutted to the bed side. Mike looked back at him and rose his brow. "You uh, might want to go invisible. You'll probably scare the daylights out of her." He whispered.

"Oh!" Randall quickly left the field of vision.

"Thank you." Mike said sweetly. He reached over to a lamp on a table sitting beside the bed, clicked it on, and cleared his throat. "Elizabeth!" He began, somewhat loudly.

The light from her lamp and the sound of his voice woke her from her slumber. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily, then proceeded to stare at Mike with wide eyes. She smiled at him, showing blunt baby teeth. He'd been through this door a good few times already. She knew the drill.

Randall, by now, was already highly confused. Was this a new scare tactic? Couldn't be, she seemed pleased to see him. When Mike began to play out a string of simple but amusing jokes, Randall's mouth unconsciously fell open.

The little girl giggled, but that wasn't what Mike was looking for. He hated this bit, but it almost always worked; he grinned and said "Hey, watch this!" Then jabbed himself painfully in his eye. He grimaced and yelped, and the child began to laugh much louder now. Time for the finale. "Thank you, thank you very much!" He bowed his head, took a step back and pretended to fall over onto his bottom. "Ouch!" He said, and she began to crackle.

"You fell down!" She got out through her laughs, pointing at him.

Mike stood up clumsily and backed towards the closet. He looked where Randall had been standing, assuming he hadn't moved, and grinned. _"See?"_ He mouthed silently.

Suddenly filled with confusion and anger, Randall appeared in the room. He didn't care the child could see him- that was the point! He snarled towards Mike then looked at Elizabeth.

She didn't seem scared of him at all. Just shocked. Another monster was in her room- more jokes? She watched him in wait, laughter gone.

"Change, Randall. You're not going back. I'll tell Sulley hi for you." Mike said aloud, hand on the door knob. He twisted it and before he took a step in, turned back and added "You're better off here, not cooped up in a jail cell. You won't ever go back to Monstropolis." Then he left.

Randall balled his fists, and stomped up to the closet door the moment it shut. He hissed under his breath and slung the door open, but the portal to the other side had quickly been broken. He stared a moment at the small dark room. Why hadn't he made a break for the door earlier? Why did he have to wait and talk to that stupid little green ball? Maybe curiosity and pride had gotten the better of him. Maybe, though he'd never admit out loud, he really didn't want to leave so easily.

The purple monster closed the door gently then turned back to the kid who was still watching him. "What are _you_ lookin' at?" He asked, sounding dejected.

Elizabeth shrugged. "I'unno." She smiled and rose her chin. "I hadn't found out yet!" Her smile grew.

Randall narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Little brat. You should be scared of me." He mumbled with a sigh. "You didn't see anything, you got it, kid?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "You're not no fun, like th'other one."

The lizard sighed again as he slipped away from color. He slinked quickly and silently into the hall, down the stairs, and (after unlocking it of course) out the door- which he left wide open.

He decided he did not want to go back to Mercy's house right away. They would meet at the park as she had instructed. _Park, swings, noon. _In truth he really just wanted to be alone right now. So Randall found his way to the park after some time from the neighborhood the child lived on and zipped up a tree. He lay on a branch far up near the top. From there he could reflect and stare up at the sky, which was dotted with dim blinking stars.

Randall was just a big mean lizard; a bully. He had almost been a murder before he was kicked clean out of the other realm. The more he thought about it the stupider his original plan had been. Did he honestly think he would have been able to get revenge on Sulley without getting caught then thrown in some damp, rank jail cell? What was he trying to prove? He had no one to impress. He came to the sad conclusion that this was unhealthy. He needed to move on. But it was such a hard thing to do; to forget everything you worked for. To let yourself be slowly reduced to nothing in the minds of peers.

As he wrapped his tail protectively around the branch and glanced down at the picnic table below, he grew tired. His anger was gone. The monster felt alone and lost. He turned himself invisible (hoping not to turn visible in his sleep) and started to drift off. As he did so, he began to long for the smooth touch of human skin upon his cold scales again.

He woke up several times during the night.

* * *

"What happened?" Asked a dismayed Mercy, having stood from her swing. She was giving Randall such a sad face it would break his heart if it hadn't already been broken.

Anne was torn between feeling bad for him and being ecstatic he had come back. She was hanging off one of his bottom arms and pouting up at him. While her posture demanded playfulness her face tried to show compassion.

Randall, who was sitting in the grass and ignoring Anne, shook his head. "The door was active." He shrugged with his top arms. He had appeared to them minutes before, but hadn't the spirit to make it a sneak attack like last time. He simply settled in the grass and let them see him.

"Yeah, and?" Mercy walked slowly over and sat cross legged in the grass in front of him. When he didn't reply and took to staring down at the green blades she added "Randall, are you okay? I'm sorry."

Anne groaned and slumped down so her knees touched the ground. She nuzzled her forehead on the arm she was latched to. "It'll be alright, maybe y'can get in another door?"

Randall sneered at nothing in particular and shook his head again. "No, there won't be anymore doors Anne."

Anne looked up at the side of his head. "Why?" She asked innocently.

There was a pause. "Randall?" Mercy asked, unsure. "Tell us." She reached out a hand and gently tapped his chin, so that he would lift up his head and look at her.

Finally looking the older sister in the eyes, he got the guts to explain. "I met a guy I knew. And we talked and- and things are just different now, and I don't even know why I wanted to go back. I mean, I _KNEW_ why but- ugh!" He shut his eyes and ran a hand to smooth his fronds back. "I just can't go back. Not anymore, Mercy. That little twerp was right." His eyes opened and he looked wearily at the human in front of him.

"Oh, dear." She sighed, tilting her head. She moved to the other side of him and laced an arm through his other bottom limb, being that Anne had the other. She patted his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. Okay?"

Anne had gone back to nuzzling his arm."Yeah, it'll be okay, Randy." Her playfulness had gone with the seriousness of the moment. "I promise!"

Randall looked at the two and frowned. "There's something I haven't told you."

"Hm?" Mercy hummed, glancing up at him.

Randall fidgeted with his top hands and looked uneasy. "About why I'm here."

Anne nodded. "Y'never did tell us all th'way!"

"Well," Randall began, pitch rising at the end. "I was working with this _guy._ Sullivan, a co-worker, had been top scarer for a long time, and _I_ wanted to get to the top. Y'know? Maybe I did it for the wrong reasons. And I-"

"Hey wait!" Mercy yelped. "You said YOU were top scarer!"

He ducked his head a little. "Yeah well I lied. I didn't think I was going to ever tell you the truth." He looked guilty, in a humorous sort of way.

Mercy shook her head at him and rose an eyebrow. "Continue the story." She said throatily.

He blinked and complied. "Anyways, so I was working with that guy and designed this big machine. Thought I was some sort of genius. It was going to make me more than top scarer- I'd be famous!" He grinned slightly a the thought. "But it failed. I snatched a kid and probably would have sucked the life out of her. Because who knew trying to suck screams straight from a kid's mouth would actually suffocate them, huh?"

Mercy stared at him for a long time, then Anne broke the awkward silence. "N'now you're here with us? Cause you done gone and almost murdered someone?" She asked in disbelief. Randall lowered his head and stared at the ground.

"You regret it, huh?" Finally came Mercy's voice.

"Yeah." He sighed. The three sat in the sun quietly before Randall finally asked "Now what?"

Mercy shrugged. "Now we go home, I suppose. Before anybody else arrives." It was as if Randall didn't just admit to being an almost-murderer a moment ago.

Mercy stood up and offered a hand. Though Randall really didn't need it (he could honestly drag her down) he took her hand and stood up on his four legs; Anne went up with him, still latched on. The little girl and the monster walked with Mercy back to her truck in silence.

In their oblivious state, the trio did not notice that they had been observed all the while.

* * *

**_'Ugggggh' describes my current state of emotions_**

**_Thank you for reading, I appreciate all reviews._**


	10. May I Barrow a Cup of Sugar?

_Knock-knock-knock._

It was near time for the girls father to return home from work. So Mercy cheerfully bounded up to the door as Randall and Anne scuttled off into Anne's room and shut the door. The older sister unlocked and opened the door with a grin, but it immediately vanished when she realized it was _not _their father.

"Oh. Hello Mr. Barrow." Mercy droned, looking up at him. He was somewhat taller than her.

He looked down at her with an unreadable expression, his hair messy as ever and clothes filthy. "How do y'do, young lady?" He asked in his thick accent, feigning politeness.

Mercy rolled her eyes, a hand on her hip. "You're here fer a cup'o'sugar, I imagine?" She asked sarcastically.

Jacob gave a sick chuckle. "No, yer as smart as your pa."

"Who," Mercy began, eyes lighting up "will be here very soon. If'n your not wantin' nothin', then go on and get." Unlike Anne, Mercy wasn't so nice as to offer kindness to a scum bag such as Jacob Barrow. She could give affection to a child scaring monster all she wanted, but not _him_ of all people.

"Hm." He nodded, eyes narrowing. "Did yer sis give ya my message?"

Mercy's eyebrow rose. "What message?" She asked suspiciously. "When did you talk to my sister?"

"Jus' yesterday." He answered. "I told'er to go'n tell your pa 'bout the alligator loose. You wouldn't have seen it, would you?"

Mercy shook her head. "Ain't no alligator gonna come up this far from th'swamp."

Jacob grinned madly and shifted his weight back and forth, swaying for but a moment. "Well I done seen it, yer family sure is quick ta judge cause I ain't no liar."

Mercy crossed her arms. "Didn't say ya was. But I tell ya, there ain't no-"

Jacob cut her off. "It's taller than you are, n'is all _gross_ and _mutated_. All sickly lookin' and," He began to whisper "has got to have at least ten arms!"

This stunned Mercy for all but a moment. In the back of her mind she felt nervous. "You been drinkin', Jacob?" She eyed him up and down.

He frowned deeply, leaving wrinkles in his forehead from his furrowed brows. The greasy man lowered his head, placing his hands on his knees and looking her straight in the eyes. "Y'better watch your back, kid, 'cause I'm gonna have me some _purple_ alligator skin hangin' on my wall soon. _Real_ soon."

Mercy's mouth hung open and her mind spun in an attempt to make out why this threat scared her so much. D_oes he know Randall is here?_She found herself questioning. "What'er you talkin' bout?" She asked stupidly.

Jacob straightened his back and laughed, showing teeth. "I'm talkin' 'bout a gator hunt." His smile widened. "You look a lil' pale."

Mercy shook her head and glared up at him. "Just worried at the thought of my dear neighbor goin' and getting' his fingers chomped off by a gator, is all." She replied sweetly. "Now if all y'wanted to do was come and yammer about some stupid huntin' trip, then you done what ya'came for. Goodbye, Mr. Barrow." She then slammed the door in the man's face and locked it again.

Douche. Still, she was shaken up. He was obviously describing Randall (though he gave a wrong number of limbs), and seemed ready to grab his gun and go looking for him. What worried her most was the way he walked; how he looked at her like he knew she was hiding something. She shuttered and started for Anne's room.

Before she reached the hall, Anne and Randall popped around the corner. "Oh geez!" Anne squeaked frantically. "I fergot to mention he said he saw a gator!"

"You was eavesdroppin', huh?"

Randall looked a little nervous. "Bet he's all bark, as you'd say." He spat, fidgeting. "There's no way that man could know I'm here. I haven't been visible around your house since-" He thought a moment "-since you let me out of that cage!"

Anne turned towards Randall and grabbed his wrists, forcing him to look down at her in confusion. Her face was contorted with worry. "You sure?" She asked quickly. Randall nodded.

The brunette crossed her arms and sighed loudly. "Has he _ever_ seen you?"

The younger girl released Randall, who turned back to face Mercy (who was now leaning on the couch by her hips). "Weeeeell, actually," He started guiltily. "Hesortakindaseenme_twice_."

"Randall!" Mercy scolded loudly.

He put up his hands defensively. "No wait! Listen, I came to your world from a closet door in that trailer, I couldn't help the first time! The second time was an accident, okay? I climbed on a car at the park that a little girl and a man went into, and I showed up at _his_ place. Even though it was a bad idea, I double checked the doors in case another might be active. Soooomehow I _sorta _lost my invisibility."

Mercy looked pissed but Anne just looked horrified. "But you didn't come over here, I know, so he wouldn't of known ya'knew us. Right?" Mercy asked, eying him up and down.

He nodded. "I went back to the park."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Maybe he just wanted ta double check n'see if Anne passed on the message?"

Anne shrugged, looking between the two. "But, whys he gotta be so mean about it?"

"He comes 'round here again I'll call th'cops on'em." Mercy grumbled. "I'm gonna make Daddy some tea 'for he gets home." She then changed the subject. Of course, by 'make tea' she meant pouring it from a store bought bottle into a plastic cup, with two square ice cubes to keep it fresh and cool.

"Alright." Anne replied, nodding. "Come on Randy, let's go do stuff." She grinned up at him, grabbed his wrist (more gently this time), and led him back to her room.

Mercy heard her door softly close, and went to get the tea from the fridge.

* * *

The days passed and they'd yet to see anymore from their odd neighbor, other than occasionally noticing him gazing at their house from across the street.

The girls kept Randall a secret from their father. It was easy to do, being that he worked so often and so long. The weekends were more bothersome, however. Randall had nearly gotten caught when he accidentally knocked over a large hollow vase by the TV, which fell onto the carpeted floor with a soft 'clunk.'

"What th'heck?" The girls father had asked out loud, brows furrowed. He got from the couch and righted the vase, then proceeded to stand with his hands on his hips and stare at it. "Now how th'heck could that happen?"

"Wind?" Suggested Anne.

"Uneven carpet?" Suggested Mercy.

Either way he didn't prod anymore (after jokingly poking Anne in the side and claiming a ghost might have knocked it over) and they went about their day.

At times Randall would leave the house by himself. Upon asking where he went off to, Randall had explained his sudden interest in the wildlife of the human world. The animals were much different where he lived. He had also found mimicking the soft lazy feline creatures amusing. At least, when it came to hunting. Mercy had once stepped outside to a dead bird laying at her feet. Yuck.

It was now a Wednesday. Randall had been at the house for a full eight days since he had last seen Mike. Eight days of bird hunting and causing mischief with the girls. Since it had already become clear he would be staying for some good while with them, they went into town often when Mercy had gas money. Sometimes they got fast food and would drive back home to have a picnic near the swamp (as suggested by Anne).

"I can't believe you actually said that!" Randall said, laughing in astonishment. He took a chicken nugget out of a little box and bit it in half, chewing quickly.

Mercy nodded, sipping from a large paper cup full of soda."Yeah, well, I was in seventh grade! Can ya'blame a kid? So th'boy looks at me n'smiles, and he says 'nope.' Just a plain 'nope!' Oh man, that was my first heart break and I took it like a pussy."

Anne squirmed a little, smiling. "I ain't never had my heart broken."

"Well, learn from my mistakes lil'sis!" She punched Anne on the shoulder lightly.

The three spent another good thirty minutes munching on their greasy five-dollar foods before packing up the blanket they were sitting on and heading back to the house.

By the time they had reached their destination (it had been about a ten minute walk, being they were only half way to the swamp) they were ready to 'chill' on the couch, as Anne had put it. Mercy smiled at her and dug out a key from her short's pocket. They walked around to the front of the house and the three almost simultaneously gasped. Their door was wide open!

"Oh my God we need to call the cops!" Anne squeaked, moving behind her sister. Randall had gone invisible before they had rounded the corner of the house.

"Shhh." Mercy hushed, crouching a little. She shook, and inched towards the steps.

Anne bit her lip. "Someone might still be in there!" She whispered.

"Shhhh!" Mercy hushed again, waving at her. She stepped onto the pouch and crept over, peered around the edge of the door frame and looking inside. It didn't look like anyone was in there.

"_Pst!"_

Mercy jumped and moved against the side of the house at the sound, a hand on her heart. Randall's face (his head seemed to be floating) appeared for a moment. "Sorry." He said, looking sympathetic. His face was gone again. "There's someone in the back." He informed her hoarsely. "The last room of the hall. Looking around."

"Who?" Mercy asked.

"How should I know? Didn't see his face."

She swallowed. Anne tip-toed up to Mercy and stood against the wall beside her. "What do we do?"

"Randall," Mercy said "go get the phone, quick!"

"Will do." He said. Moments later a floating phone wooshed out the door and was handed to Mercy.

"Thanks." She quickly dialed 911. The voice of a woman came from the other end when it was picked up, and Mercy quickly and quietly reported their location and situation. Anne stood there and gnawed her nails into nubs.

* * *

_**Thanks for reading**_


	11. Get'em!

"Heeeeey," Came the eerily familiar voice of a man. "girls, I wondered where y'were!"

The sisters looked up in horror and confusion as the man had stepped out onto the porch. "You son of'a'bitch!" Mercy spat standing protectively in front of Anne. "I'll have you know I just called the police'n they'll be here any minute, so y'better just. . . go home!" She looked him up and down.

He lifted up his hands and shook his head. "Woooah, calm down little girl! I didn't steal nothin'."

"Breakin' and enterin' is still a crime!" Anne squeaked from behind Mercy. Her hands gripped into the fabric of her shirt, her body almost pressed against Mercy's back.

Jacob shrugged. "I know you got him." He accused, glaring. "No use hidi'em. Couldn't find nothin' in your house, but-" Before he could take more then two steps towards them, he suddenly yelled and fell forward. The girls stumbled back and almost tripped moving to avoid being fallen onto.

"What the fuck?" He cursed loudly, having face planted. His nose ached painfully and he felt as if he had hit his elbow on the corner of a desk. He found he couldn't stand up. There was an intense pressure on his body; it was like he was being held down. "I can't get up!"

"Whadda we do?" Anne yelped.

"Jus'- jus' wait for the police to get here." Mercy replied, frozen in place staring down at the man on their porch.

Jacob tried to struggle free, thrashing. "What the hell is on m'back?" He yelled, twisting his neck painfully. He couldn't see anything upon him. However, he could make out from the pressure he was being pressed down by several pairs of hands. Or was it feet?

"There's nothin' on your back, Mr. Barrow." Mercy said, as if to confirm his thoughts.

"I can see that!" He spat. Everyone was quiet. He suddenly smiled and added "Or maybe it's what I _can't_ see." The lanky man reached around awkwardly with his arms and gripped onto something- what he assumed must either be wrists or ankles to what was forcing him down.

Immediately, the pressure from the two points was removed, painfully twisting his arms into the air. He grunted, yanking and yanked back upon in return. The man gave it Hell; he kicked his feet so that they bucked into the offending creature's back. The force upon Jacob lessened as it became distracted, allowing him a moment of relief to twist his body and fling it off. A frustrated yelp was emitted from seemingly nowhere as its source lost balance and found itself crashing into the house wall.

"Ahhh! Randall!" Anne whined, looking very pitiful.

"I knew it!" Laughed Jacob madly.

Scornfully glaring and painted a muddy white upon the wall was a much more visible Randall Boggs. He wasn't pleased in the slightest.

"Alright," Mercy began lowly "now you know the truth. You ain't gonna hurt him, n'he ain't gonna hurt you!" She was shaking violently by now, glancing down the road every few seconds. "Randall?" She asked, much less confident.

Randall bared his pointed teeth at Jacob, having not stopped staring him down yet.

Their neighbor had by now helped himself to stand upon his legs. He wiped at his face and looked over the monster, who had changed back to his natural purples and blues. "My, yous sure a fine gator!" He reached his hand up under his filthy shirt and pulled out a revolver (what a thing to bring on a 'gator' hunt). He pointed it straight at Randall's head.

"Oh my God!" Anne yelled. "No don't hurt him!" She pushed past her sister and started for Jacob, but was pulled back back by Mercy, who had grabbed her shirt. "Let me go! He can't hurt Randall! _Randall!_"

Mercy was on edge. "Jacob! He ain't no gator, n'if you dun't put down that gun then someone's gonna be hurt!" She struggled to hold back her sister by her collar. "You can be sued for killin' a owned animal not on yer property." Her voice betrayed her face; while speaking calm and collected, her expression was contorted with worry.

"Gator ain't no pet!" Jacob replied. "Purple one with arms n'a face like that- bet they'd pay me good money fer it's return. What's'it? Escaped circus freak?"

Randall growled, pressed against the wall. "Look in the mirror, buddy!"

Jacob's cool was almost shaken. He seemed disturbed by the fact he had just been addressed by his prey. "What. . ."

Mercy could hold on no more. Jacob was slammed into by a little girl banging upon his sides and chest with little powerless fists. She was screaming at him, though he couldn't make out the words. His gun wavered and his mind distracted, giving a few seconds of an opening. He was readying to shove Anne away when his hand began to sting harshly- he lashed his head about and his gun was flying far back into the girls' yard. "My gun!

"Get'em!" Mercy shouted. "Get'em Randall!"

The monster happily obeyed and tackled Jacob Barrow; the two were flung backwards and painfully rolled from the porch steps into the yard. They struggled but Randall had the upper hand. To be more precise, he had eight upper hands. Jacob was soon unable to fight back; his arms pinned harshly behind his back, his legs crossed together by two sets of Randall's limbs (also including his tail) and head pressed into the grass. He tried to thrash and roll, yelling profanities in anger. "I'll kill you! I'll kill _all'a_ you!"

Anne stood on the porch, panting and fists balled at her sides. "Serves ya right!" She hissed, spitting at him.

In the near distance the howl of sirens could be heard. Heads turned as two police cars came down the road and turned into the girls' drive. Mercy looked down at Jacob, about to order Randall to disappear, but he had already vanished. It was obvious he hadn't moved, however, as their neighbor was still writhing on the ground, unable to get up.

"Oh thank goodness!" Anne sighed, hands on her cheeks. She scampered behind Mercy as the older sister walked briskly to one of the police men who had gotten out of the car. Two of them apprehended Jacob (who suddenly felt the absence of Randall upon his back) and escorted him into one of the cars. He was handcuffed and one of them was aggravatingly repeating what must have been his rights.

"He didn't hurt ya, did he mam?" Asked a tall chubby officer, looking down at Mercy. His voice had true concern seeping in every syllable.

"Nuh-uh, but he tried'ta!" Anne said, one hand gripping Mercy's shirt.

"He pulled'a gun on us." Mercy pointed to the lone revolver laying in the grass, where Randall had flung it into the yard. "He said he was gonna kill us, but I was able ta get th'gun away."

"Well don't you two ladies worry, we contacted your father already n'he should be here shortly. We'll escort this man to the station." The tall chubby man said, smiling with a nod.

Anne grinned back up at him. "Oh thank you, mister officer!"

Mercy messed up her sisters short black hair. "If you hadn't gotten here like ya did, we might'a done been shot!"

He nodded again and went to speak to one of his colleges. The sound of Mr. Barrow raving about purple monsters and _'you're all just crazy, they're lying to you'_ could be heard even with the windows up in the police car.

One of the officers retrieved the gun from the ground and placed it into a bag as evidence. This was likely going to go to court, not that Mercy had an complaints about this. Who was going to believe the man when he claimed he came after a purple alligator with 'ten' arms? Mercy almost laughed at the thought.

* * *

The night was quiet. Crickets chirped loudly and fireflies could be seen dotted about if one were to glace outside. The girls were having a pretend slumber party after having such an exciting day. Anne would be sleeping in Mercy's room along with Randall. There was a big blanket spread over the expanse of the floor, with a couple of large plump pillows for resting on. Another blanket topped the other, so that they could not get cold in the night.

When their father had arrived, he seemed in a panic. "_OhmyGodohmyGod _girls are you okay? Are you hurt? Do I need ta take you to th'hospital?" He had said a-mile-a-minute, grabbing Anne's face and looking it over before having repeated the process with Mercy.

"We're fine! Daddy, don't worry we're fine!" Mercy had quickly assured him.

He had let them eat from the ice cream carton that night, and let Anne watch whatever she wished until she was bored with television. The doors were locked and curtains closed when he went to bed, and he slept with a gun next to the nightstand that night.

Now Mercy, Anne, and Randall all sat on their little pallet whispering about anything and everything, far from feeling sleepy. "Ya'think he'll plead insanity?" Anne asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"If he don't he'll have life in jail, I bet'cha!" Mercy replied. She was leaned back against a bed post, body pressed tightly beside Randall's. He lay curled with his head in her lap, and she petted him gently.

"I hope he does." Randall growled. "I'm sore all over from holding that bastard down." His voice whined.

"Well, we're mighty grateful, Randy!" Anne smiled at him, leaning over her legs so she could be at eye level with him. It was uncomfortable, so she quickly moved forward, pecked him on top of the head, and situated herself back upon her legs. "Thank you! I woulda' done beat him up real bad, if'n ya hadn't!" She gave a stern nod.

The monster squirmed a little and placed two of his hands over his face, trying to hide it. "Bleck." He said, though he appeared more embarrassed than disgusted.

"Awww, Randall, you look good in pink!" Mercy giggled down at him, continuing to stroke his back.

"Shuddup" He grumbled, now aware that his face had become a light shade of rose. He forced it to turn purple again and peeked up at Mercy, who was smirking down at him. "Stop lookin' at me like that." He slurred, lowly.

Her smirked widened. "Like what?"

"Like_ that_!" He removed his hands, and lifted his head up.

Mercy laughed. "Or what, y'gonna bite me, mister monster?"

Anne wiggled. "Ohhh, no bitin', or I'll bop ya on th'head!"

The two ignored the raven haired girl. "Yeah, that's it, or I'll bite you."

There was a moment of hesitation, where the older sister and the monster stared each other down. Randall let himself grin widely to show off his teeth, and playfully growled at the human. "Don't test me!" He warned, trying not to seem too serious.

"I dare'ya!" Mercy leaned forward so her face was closer, trying to be intimating though her smile made that hard.

"I warned you." Randall snapped his teeth and took her arm, much to Mercy's dismay, and swiftly placed it into his mouth, applying light pressure. It felt like a puppy who was teething; not painful but not pleasant.

"Eep!" Mercy squeaked, flexing her hand.

Anne crossed her arms. "Bad Randall!" She said, and slapped his wrist. "Bad!"

Randall laughed, the sound muffled from Mercy's gown sleeve. "No." He tried to say.

"Grrr," Mercy pretend to growl. "let go of me."

"No!" He said again, ignoring Anne now pulling upon his tail.

Mercy glared at him for a second, tugging gently on her arm. "You're a bad dog, Randall. Bad dogs gotta be punished, y'know." She said eerily.

His fronds flattened slightly. "Wh-ya-gonna-do-bout-eh?" He replied, muffled.

Rather than answer him with words, Mercy leaned forward and licked Randall almost between his eyes, causing him to panic and spit her arm out, lowering his head automatically and whipping his head with the blanket. "Ewwww, Mercy! Whhhhy!"

She laughed proudly.

"Serves ya right!" Anne said, laughing with her sister.

When his head popped back up, he was scowling at Mercy as if he were ready to _really_ bite her. He would never do such a thing, though, and remained scowling instead. It was then he realized Anne had climbed upon his back and was straddling him like a horse. He looked back at her and rolled his eyes. "Get off me, you lil'munchkin."

Anne stuck her tongue out at him.

He turned himself back to Anne, who was staring at him. "What? You aren't gonna lick me again, right?" He asked softly, somewhat scared.

She shrugged. "Nah." The human placed her hand on top of his head and stroked his fronds back, watching them bounce back up in place again with amusement. He let himself purr. "Jacob Barrow really could have hurt us today," She changed the topic back to earlier "if it wasn't for you."

"I wouldn't let him hurt you. Either of you." Randall smiled. "You've done a lot for me. I'm not going to go let you get shot."

Mercy tilted her head to the side. "That's all? You're just re-paying us?"

Randall suddenly seemed a little confused. "What?" He asked, before realizing what she meant. "Oh no, Mercy, of course not! I mean, you're- well, you two are the best humans I ever met." He paused. "No wait, well you're the only humans I ever really got to _know_, but you're good humans, and I like you a whole lot!" He was starting to ramble, so he decided to end it before he_ really _started to ramble. "I mean to say, I don't want you to be hurt."

She shook her head in amusement at him. "I don't think I want you to ever go away, Randall."

It dawned on him. Randall glanced down then met her eyes again. It felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders when he came to the realization. "I don't want to leave, either."

He felt utter bliss; the monster was finally able to let go of his desire for revenge. In its place, Mercy occupied his mind. She and her soft face and smooth hair. Her ability to make one feel. Were it weeks ago, Randall would be ashamed of this emotion. But now, he felt at ease.

He was taken back when she leaned towards him and kissed him on the nose sweetly. Again, he found his face burning a bright pink, but this time he didn't force it away. He laughed awkwardly and looked away.

"I think she's fallen asleep." Mercy said, slightly above a whisper. She nodded towards Anne.

Randall turned his head and looked down at the figure. Anne was laying on her stomach, arms and legs over either side of Randall's body. Her cheek was squished up against his scales, and her eyes were closed. He watched the slow rise and fall of her breathing. "So she is."

"Think it's 'bout time we hit the hay, too." She kicked back the covers so they would be able to slide under, before rising to her feet. The human walked to turn off her lamp before coming back to the blanket and setting down. There was enough light from the window to be able to see around.

Randall had gently removed Anne and sat her to the left of him, so that he would be in the middle. He did not desire to sleep under the covers, so instead he created a little depression (much like a kneading cat) to curl into to.

"G'night, Randall." Mercy yawned, making herself comfortable under the blanket. She nuzzled her pillow, back facing Randall.

The monster found himself forsaking his nest, moving to curl around the human girl instead. Her back warmed his stomach as she didn't seem to protest. Rather she rose a hand in the dark of the room, and patted his head before letting it flop tiredly back down. He grinned and nuzzled his face into her long hair, arms laying over her form gently and tail almost twisting into a knot.

Everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

_**I'm no good with action scenes. Suppose this could count as practice- practice means progress! There should be maybe one or two more chapters. **_

_**Thank you to those who have read this far, I always enjoy reading your reviews!**_


	12. Chameleon

It had been a full month; an entire_ month_ of hiding Randall from their father. They had managed to keep him a secret from the adult for so long, that by now it was becoming quite tiresome to hide him. They had no more problems from their neighbor, thanks to the fact Jacob Barrow had been declared guilty of breaking and entering and attempted murder within the court system. So now the only threat remaining (assuming Jacob's mother didn't know) was their dad.

It was a Sunday when Anne decided to give it up. "Dad," She said "remember all those times you said you felt like y'were bein' watched? N'when stuff fell over, fer no reason? And when y'came in our rooms, askin' us to be a little quieter when we were talkin' 'to ourselves'?"

He didn't see where this was going and shrugged. "Yeah?" He replied suspiciously. "Why?"

The raven haired girl was nervous."Well, it's done cause we gotta- we gotta-" She paused for a second, as if unsure how to word it. "a pet! Yeah, we gotta pet." Randall wasn't their pet in any way or form. In fact, Randall hated when one of them would treat him like an animal and not an intelligent being like themselves. It was rare, but sometimes Mercy joked about it to get on his nerves.

"A pet? Without my permission?" He scowled down at his little girl, crossing his arms on the couch. "And when did y'decide this was a good idea? Where is it? WHAT is it? How come I haven't seen it?"

Anne, who was sitting on the floor twiddling her thumbs, said "'Bout a month and half a go." She droned sadly, hating the feeling of his angry eyes upon her. She craved approval. "N', he's Mercy's pet too! She took him ta th'store with her. He's like, a uh, chameleon or somethin'."

Her father sighed loudly and rubbed his temple. "She took it to th'store wi- when she gets back, we're having a little talk! A chameleon. Hmph." Mercy had gone to the store to pick up a few things, Randall (who had complained about boredom) had gone with her. The two were in for a surprise when they returned.

Anne nodded, looking down at the carpet as if it held the answers to the universe. What did she just do?

* * *

"Yo! Anne! Help me out here!" The teen yelled from outside, taking out bags from the inside of the truck. Randall couldn't help her, after all floating bags would _sort of_ cause panic.

The lizard crawled out from the passenger seat, shutting the door gently behind him. "That was jus' as boring as laying around th'house!" He said quietly, though the sentence came from thin are as he dare not be visible in the front yard. Especially with their dad at home.

Mercy shrugged. "Your idea to come along." She had four bags- two in each hand- grasped by the plastic straps and headed towards the door. She climbed up the steps and awkwardly turned the knob. Before she could swing the door fully open with a foot, Anne threw it open and looked up at her sibling with a horrified expression.

"I did a bad thing." She whispered, her tone painful.

"Huh?" Mercy asked, shoving two of the bags at her sister. They moved into the house to set the bags in the kitchen.

The little girl glanced around nervously, then back up at Mercy. "I done told daddy!"

The door, which they had left open, shut as an invisible Randall sneaked inside silently. Mercy shook her head. "Told him what?" She asked.

Anne squirmed, as if she needed to pee, and forced herself to answer guiltily. "'Bout Randall."

Mercy stood frozen, straight faced beside the kitchen table with one hand on a gallon of milk she was beginning to remove from a bag. Her eyes were wide and she was speechless. She didn't know whether to be scared, or pissed off. "What the Hell did you do that for?"She hissed. "Where is he?"

Anne opened her mouth but before she could plead her innocence, their dad called from his room. "Mercy, you home?" He yelled. They could hear his door open and close from the hallway.

"We're going to have some trouble." The low voice of Randall said from behind Mercy. She could feel him nuzzle her shoulder. "Should I run now?"

"No!" Mercy whispered harshly as her father walked into the joined living room and kitchen. Anne had her head lowered in shame. She was just so tired of lying to her daddy. Hiding Randall was so tedious.

"Well, good, you got some milk." The man said, smiling for but a second. His arms crossed and he seemed to be judging the girls with his eyes. "Your sister told me about th'pet. Y'know we discussed 'bout brin' home stray animals or animals from th'swamp." He glanced down at Anne, recalling the day she had brought home a large toad some months ago. "Y'can't have a pet without talkin' to me first. N'we don't take in strays. Especially," he lowered his head, as if he would be looking over invisible glasses. "_lizards._"

Mercy sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair. She was a thief who had been caught in the act. She looked at her sister a moment. Anne had told their dad Randall was a pet; maybe she could work with that? "It's not that big of'a deal." She tried. "I feed him."

He shook his head. "With the gas money and grocery money I give you?"

Mercy shrugged. "He eats human food?"

There was an awkward silence, both waiting for the other to speak. The adult was looking back and forth between the girls sternly. Suddenly, there was a whine, and it took less than a few seconds for them to realize Anne had begun to cry. "Oh please oh please," She begged, finally looking their father in the eyes. Tears streamed down her red cheeks. "don't make Randy go away!"

The man sighed, looking pitifully at his daughter. He hated to see his children cry. He sighed again and nodded towards them. "Where is the lizard? This _Randy_?" He simply asked.

Mercy hesitated, before choking out a scared- "Randall, show yourself, please?"

Their dad looked confused a moment, before he gasped. "What the Hell is that- I thought you said it was a chameleon!"

Randall, in full color, was still standing behind Mercy. He had his first pair of hands carefully grasping the middle of Mercy's arms, and his head leaned over her shoulder as if he were sneering at the man before him. He had made Anne cry, so Randall was upset.

Anne was sobbing too much to be able to answer.

"Well," Mercy coughed up a chuckle, "he can change colors like one?"

Their father was debating on how to react. He leaned to the side so he would be able to see directly behind his oldest daughter, being she was standing in the way. He had never seen or heard of such a reptile like Randall. Never in his life. "We can't keep it." He said. "It looks. . . weird."

Mercy glared at her dad. "It? Randall is a him, dad!" She spat. "He's been here for more than a month and hasn't been any problem! Y'can't just try to toss him out now jus' cause he looks a little different!"

Randall grinned a little, his second pair of arms slid down Mercy's sides then wrapped possessively around her waist. He didn't seem as stirred up by his reveal as the humans did. "Yeah," he hissed out with fake sweetness, eying the adult. "don't toss me out like you would some mutt who wet the carpet."

The man shifted his weight and opened his mouth. Then he swayed dizzily and fell back onto the floor, knocked out cold in shock.

Mercy sighed in exasperation. "Shit."

* * *

He was settled comfortable in his bed, door closed behind him and lights out. When he had fainted, the girls panicked, Randall letting Mercy go so she could try and heft her father off the hard floor. She needed help from her sister, and the monster was glad to assist as well.

After chewing Anne out, Mercy finally sighed and slumped into the couch. The house was quiet; Anne nibbled her lip, feeling ashamed of herself. "I just thought, well, he's all we got 'sides Randall, n' I felt bad sneakin' him 'round. It was getting' so hard to pretend Randall didn't exist. Cause, he does exist!" The little girl pleaded, stroking her short black hair back.

Mercy sat leaned on the side of the couch, a hand covering her face. She wouldn't let her father put Randall in any danger, no matter what. The monster laid stretched out on the couch, making it so he fell over Mercy's lap. His head was comfortably supported by the arm of the couch, though he had slipped two hands beneath his head anyways. "Y'don't seem too scared, Randall." Mercy noted.

He shrugged at her, looking up into her face. "Knew it would happen eventually." He said. "But, I am kinda scared. I guess." His tail curled as Mercy stroked his belly softly, sending tingles to his stomach.

Mercy removed the other hand from her face."You don't look scared." She said.

Anne continued to bite her lip. "Whadda we do now?" She almost whispered, awkwardly sitting on the couch (making sure not to sit on Randall).

"Wait for Daddy to wake up." Mercy said flatly.

Some time went by in silence before Mercy could no longer take the quiet. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, idly flipping through stations. She just needed to hear the noise; something to distract her until her father came to and everything went down hill again. Anne had been right. It was time to get her father involved; what, did she think she could just hide Randall forever? That she would go off to college one day with him? He'd always need to be locked away or invisible. At least this was more interactive. Randall existed and that was reason enough to stop hiding.

The teenager left the TV on some nature show, staring blankly at the screen. She couldn't focus on it.

"Hey, Mercy," Randall asked almost dreamily, as the girl spayed her fingers out and continued to rub his stomach. He seemed almost sleepy, now. "y'never told me about your mother in the time I've been here."

"Hm." She hummed in acknowledgment. "She's no better than Jacob was."

Anne didn't add anything. She snuggled into the corner of the couch opposite of Mercy, holding Randall's tail and fiddling with it in boredom.

"What'd she do?" The lizard asked.

"She abandoned us, is what." There was a long pause as Mercy watched a sloth clamber slowly over a tree branch on the TV. "She used to work at a gas station when I was real little before Anne was born. But sh'got fired for going to work drunk." The girl's face contorted into disgust, not that Randall could see as he had closed his eyes. "After that, she was always spendin' Daddy's money to go out with friends'n get wasted. She wasn't mean'er nothin'. Just stupid."

"Mama got pregnant." Anne piped up from her corner, rubbing Randall's tail over her cheek.

"Yeah, pregnant with who knows whose baby!"

Anne nodded. "N'Daddy divorced her, cause they was yellin'."

The monster nodded slightly. "I'm sorry." He said, sincerely.

"Don't be. We're better off." Mercy hissed. "Haven't seen her in 'bout three years."

He opened his eyes again. "Don't you worry about her?" He asked.

Mercy shook her head. "She was never a mother to me or Anne. She just took Daddy's money and then broke his heart. Never offered a lick'a love t'us."

Anne squirmed. "She tucked us in."

"Uh-huh, then went and puked all over the bathroom." Mercy quickly contorted.

Anne tried not to remember this."But we love Daddy."

"Mhm." Hummed Mercy in response.

Randall frowned deeply. He removed one of the hands holding up his head and reached up towards Mercy's face. Her eyes widened when she realized his hand was touching her. He pushed a lock of hair behind one of her ears affectionately, then dropped his hand back down lazily. She smiled and seemed comforted by this, and the topic was forgotten.

* * *

_**Trying to get loose ends tied up. Remember when I said there would be at least two more chapters after the last one? There may actually be another. That would be this one, then two others. One a follow up to this, then the last to settle things and end it.**_

_**Thanks for reading. (also, I got a new laptop today!)**_


	13. Acceptance

The first thing he did was walk into the living room rubbing his aching head from where it hit the tiled kitchen floor. Then, he glanced at his two daughters and the giant purple lizard curled into himself like a cat between them on the couch. The lights were out while the TV shed light on them, and it must have been seven in the afternoon. He smoothed his hair then walked back to his room on clumsy confused feet, closing the door behind him loudly.

The girls flinched when they heard it, turning towards the hall enterance. They stared for several long drawn out seconds, but finding their father did not step into the room (as they has not noticed him before) they turned to look at one another instead. "Maybe he went to the bathroom?" Mercy said.

Anne shrugged with worry. "Imma go see." She left, quickly returning with a shake of the head. "No. I think he's still in his room."

She was correct; their father did not come out the rest of the evening. Eventually the girls fixed sandwiches for dinner then went to sleep. Randall slept in Anne's room that night, sprawled at the end of her bed.

The next day they would not see their father again until he was home from work. So the air was tense as the hour quickly ticked into minutes, then seconds. He would be off work and headed home. The girls and Randall had gone out into the woods of the swamp and tossed rocks into the water a distance away in the early hours. But now it was noon and they waited inside the house. Anne seemed especially worked up.

"He didn't talk ta us last night." She said, concern in her voice as she waited for Mercy to finish slicing an apple up at the counter. She sat kicking her legs at the table.

The teenager sighed. "There's no way of knowin' what he'll do now."

Randall was standing beside Mercy, head laid bored on the counter top. He was watching her cut the apple with lazy eyes and little interest. "Probably thinks it was all'a dream." He mummbled.

"What if he never talks ta us again?" Anne gasped, hands on her cheeks.

That almost got a laugh out of her older sister. "He will. He's our Daddy!" She put the slices on a small plate and casually walked over to the younger, placing the plate before her on the table. "Here. Eat and shoosh." Then she washed the sticky off, placed the knife in the sink, and sat at the other end of the table. Randall seemed to follow her like a lost puppy. He felt compeled to lay at her feet, but resisted as he didn't want to dirty his scales. He forced himself to sit at the table with them.

Anne began to eat the slices, biting little pieces off like a rabbit. Mercy leaned over and held her head in her hand, elbow resting on the table.

Engines rolled into the drive. The three were nervous. Then, they heard the begnings of the door being unlocked. Anne almost stopped eating, and Mercy watched as the door clicked open and their father stepped into the house, closing the door behind him.

"Good day at work, Daddy?" Mercy asked casually, as if a monster wasn't sitting beside her at the table.

The man stood at the door and fiddled with his keys, looking at his daughters at the table. He glanced awkwardly at Randall but quickly averted his eyes back to Mercy. "Mmm." He hummed with a curt nod.

"You want I should make ya some tea?" The girl asked.

He shifted back and forth slightly. "Nah." Then, he smiled and went to his room.

Anne looked at Mercy, eyebrows arched with pain. Mercy shook her head and shrugged, watching as Randall snuck a hand across the tabletop and stole one of Anne's apple slices.

* * *

It was six in the afternoon. Mercy was scribbling in her room and Anne was watching cartoons in the living room. They weren't sure where Randall was at, but neither of the girls wanted to constrain his freedom like he was an animal. He would come home before it got too late like he always did.

There was a swift knock at Mercy's door, which then opened abruptly after. "Hey. Come to th'living room." The voice of her father said as he was peeking through the door, before he closed it quietly.

The older sister put away her notebook and did as he requested. She met him and her little sister in the living room. A lamp illuminated the space with an orange glow; like a fire. Mercy sat on the other side of her dad, as Anne already occupied the opposite side.

"Alright," Their father began as soon as Mercy took a seat. The man turned off the TV and held his hands together in his lap. "we need to talk." When the girls didn't say anything in response he continued. "I know I done said no pets. 'Specially without askin' me first. But uh-" He seemed to be struggling with saying it out loud. "I was thinkin'. Animals don't talk." Then his eyes seemed to go wild. "I'm not crazy! You heard it too right?"

Mercy nodded. "Yeah, he talks, Daddy. He's clever."

"Maybe it's like'a parrot- maybe-"

"Nuh-uh," Anne interrupted. "He's smart like us!"

The adult was silent for what felt like hours, contemplating this. "Well." He said. "I still think ya should be punished fer havin' him without askin'. But you done took care of it fer a month'n I didn't even know." He smiled a little, looking between them. "That's responsibility. I guess we can keep'em, 'bout time I let ya'll have a pet anyways." He laid a loving hand on Anne's knee. "'N so you can have someone around when Mercy finally heads off."

Mercy played with her hair."Daddy, you know, he's not exactly a pet. Cause he ain't no animal, not really. He's just different. More like'a roommate." She shrugged.

"Tomato-tamato. Y'can keep'em so be happy." He gave a nod, looking a little worn out. He didn't think he wanted to discuss the talking much anymore. It was just too strange and unnatural for him.

Anne bounced where she sat then lunged forward and squeezed her father in a tight hug. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She squeaked.

The man chuckled and rubbed his little girl's back. "You'll be grounded for a'month; cause that's how long ya kept'em a secret."

Mercy crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything back. Anne, however, let go of her father and whined loudly.

"Shush." He said, giving her a look. She quieted down but continued to pout. "Where is that dinosaur, anyways?"

The girls shrugged.

"You need ta be keepin' an eye on that thing-"

"Him." Mercy corrected coldly.

"- an eye on_ him_, if you're gonna be havin' him as a pet. 'Roommate.' Thing."

"We will." Anne nodded.

There was an awkward silence as the man smiled between his little girls. He squeezed Mercy's shoulder to show her everything was fine and stood up. "Remember, you're grounded. No TV no phone no truck."

The girls looked up at him with irritated eyes.

"Got it?" He asked sternly.

"Got it." They droned.

Then he gave a last reassuring smile and went to make dinner for the night.

* * *

Even though their father had approved of Randall in the end, that didn't mean he had to like Randall. It was as if he avoided him, if possible. He especially refrained from talking directly to him. It was hard to cope with the thought of an intelligence that mirrored that of his own species. This gave Randall great pleasure within the days following his acceptance into the entire family, as it amused him to make the human uncomfortable.

"Whatcha' doin'?" Asked the big purple reptile, hanging from a tree by four limbs and his tail in the back yard. He stared down smugly at the man.

With a jump, his eyes snapped to Randall with a look of shock. "How long have you been there?" he asked awkwardly. He was planting some flowers he had bought from the store; on his knees with a small gardening shovel in his right hand.

Randall climbed around the branch and lay over it, almost reminding one of a jaguar. He shrugged. "Few minutes."

A few seconds went by as the man watched Randall hesitantly. As if he half expected the monster to leap down and rip open his flesh if he turned his back.

"Say, I don't even know your name, do I? Mercy and Anne only call you 'Daddy.'" He suddenly asked, throwing away his earlier question.

He mused over this, and answered. "Timothy. Just call me Tim." He turned back to his work at long last, feeling the squinty eyes upon him.

"Those girls sure do love'ya a lot, huh?" Asked Randall softly.

Tim had dug a nice damp hole, reaching for a pre-grown flower in a temporary pot. "I'm all they have. Ain't talked ta my relatives much since Mercy was about six."

Randall watched him as he filled the hole around the pretty pink plant, patting it gently with his bare hands. He moved to the side, blue jeans covered with dirt, and began to repeat this process. Randall's tail twitched. "I can smell the fear on you, you know." He said. "You're scared of me."

"Th'only animals that talk are parrots." He replied with an edge.

Randall let himself cackle loudly. "I'm no animal!" He said. "I'm a monster. Didn't Mercy explain this too you, _Timothy_?"

"No." He said curtly.

There was a sigh from the tree. "I'm no more animal than you." When there was no reply, he added. "Monsters come from the closets and scare kids or- er, I don't know what they do anymore. But I got tossed out, n'if it wasn't for your girls, I wouldn't be here now."

"I see." Tim said. He stood up, looking down at the row of neatly arranged pink flowers he had planted. He gave a little grin, happy to brighten up his back yard. He dusted off his knees and pants, placed his hands on his hips, and turned to look up at Randall. His eyes narrowed. "I don't care what th'hell y'are. But if you ever- _ever_- try n'hurt my kids, then you best believe yer gonna end up snake skin." His face softened. "But I suppose if I didn't think ya were a little okay, I wouldn't let you stay here."

Randall grinned, climbing down the tree to face the man. He was the same height (fronds not included)- though if Randall were to lay flat it would be obvious he was the largest, length wise. "I'd never dream of it." He said, showing sharpened teeth. "See, look how civilized this monster can be." He held out one of his hands.

Timothy looked down at it, back to Randall's face, then let himself shake the hand firmly. "Don't test me."

Randall gave a nod. He was glad the girls had a father who loved them so dearly. Who loved them enough he would even make threats to a twelve foot long, eight armed reptile right in his face.

* * *

_**Nearly there, folks. **_

_**Did I mention I turned 17 on the 6th? Having a party tomorrow.**_


	14. Dim Lights

Things became normal again, eventually. The girls let Randall have free roam and their father grew fond of him, in a odd sort of way. Timothy, though still preferring to keep his distance, was more comfortable with Randall. The lizard became highly attached to Mercy, and protective over Anne as he felt Anne was as much his responsibility as she was Mercy's. Like a doll that needed looking after, or it'll gather dust and be stolen away some fine day.

The attachment towards the older was never hidden, of course. Except in late summer nights, taking walks in the dark to listen to crickets and see stars. When the silhouettes of a human and monster were very obviously holding hands. A simple gesture- but such an odd couple to behold. If Anne ever noticed the possessiveness Randall would sometimes hold over Mercy, she never mentioned it.

When summer break finally passed by, and the girls had to return to school for the usual seven hours, five days a week, Randall had the house alone. It sometimes got lonely. Mercy pretended not to show any emotion when kids at school (her friends, even) whispered about seeing a huge purple monster lurking about the town before suddenly vanishing into thin air. "That's odd," she often said "but you know I'm not superstitious like my sister!" And when her peers would mention they did, she would add. "There's _no such thing_ as monsters." And be done with it.

Anne, however, would act is if she were some sort of expert in all things monster. Children with their wild imaginations believed in the rumor, but no one really believed Anne. She was always making up stories; saying she met a dragon once or that she had almost caught Bigfoot twice in her back yard. She only grinned when they said she was lying.

It was a Friday after school, and Mercy was laying up on the roof. She was careful not to slide off, hands holding her head up to look at the blinking dots scattering the ink of night sky. A few clouds whisked over the lights, giving an eerie atmosphere. Everything had cooled down as Fall approached.

She had enlisted the help of Randall to get up here; he lay beside her, hands laying lazily over his stomach. Mercy sighed up at the sight. "I only know th'Big Dipper and Orion." She admitted, pointing. "There's the Big Dipper," Her finger moved to point at three slanted stars, lined in a row. "and that's Orion's belt."

Then they chatted idly about zodiacs and constellations. Wondering about moons and exactly how long the sun was supposed to last.

"You know," Mercy began after a long silence. "I will be going t'college some day. N' you'll jus' be here, with Anne."

Randall shook his head. "College." He mused. "I went to Monsters University. Just figures, that everything I learned is obsolete where I used to work, now!" He threw his hands up in exaggeration. "'Least from what I saw. I. . . think."

Mercy removed one hand from her head and drummed her fingers on her chest idly. "Y'ever think you'll go back home? In the future?"

He shrugged in the dark. "Maybe. S'kinda hard to be stuck between two worlds. Like I can't go back without causin' a stir, but I can't just live my life here like a normal monster, either. I don't wanna be thrown in prison or just tossed back here somewhere random. But I feel like, someday, that's what I'm gonna do." He paused. "I'm gonna go back n'be stuffed in a cell. Or thrown back here some place I'd never be able to see you or Anne again."

Mercy frowned. She suddenly realized how horrible Randall must really feel. He was lost among humans, but there wasn't a life back in his world for him, either. She wasn't sure what she could say to console him. "I'll miss you." She said instead.

That made him grin, breathing a little laugh. "I'll miss you too."

She turned her head to look at him- though she couldn't actually see much of his features in the dark. "When do you think it is you'll go?"

He shrugged for a second time, looking back at her. He could see about as much of her face as she could see his. "Don't worry about it. I won't be going anywhere for a long time, Mercy. I promise." Then, he felt for her hand, took it, and pressed a chaste kiss on her palm.

They heard the sound of the front door violently swing open. The booming voice of Anne destroyed the thick air between them as it carried into the once peaceful night. "Mercy, Randall, ya'll done come down fer dinner!" She yelled, before the door slammed shut again.

Mercy sat up. "Wish he wasn't makin' it so late, usually makes it 'round seven thirty or so. Almost nine, I betcha'." She grumbled quietly, more to herself.

"Long as we're gettin' fed!" Randall said, optimistic. He skittered down the house to the ground, and from there helped Mercy. "Breakfast for dinner should be the_ only_ dinner." He joked.

Mercy grinned in amusement as they made their way to the front porch, light flooding their eyes from the little window upon the door. "You only like it for the bacon."

"You know me too well, Mercy."

Then she opened the door and they hurried inside. And, try as she might, Mercy could not dissipate the pleasant tingle still spreading over her palm from where Randall had kissed it.

For a while, everything would be okay.

* * *

_**I hope this ties everything up well enough. It's real short but I wanted it to be to the point. Sorry it must have taken a while despite its length. I don't know if I LIKED this ending so much, but I wasn't going to go too much into life after the climax. This is as good as it gets. There will not be a sequel.**_

_**Thanks to those who liked it enough to read it all the way through, I appreciate all my criticism, good and bad. See ya'. 3**_


End file.
